The Wolf in Me
by DystopianKitKat
Summary: After Lisanna is discovered alive, Lucy has been shut out. Forced out of her team, she reunites with her once thought dead sister, and travel in search for a new home. Once they find one, they realize that they have to fight a tremendous force-and that force may be a little too close to home.
1. Kicked Out

Ch 1: Kicked Out

**DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE. CHILL.**

**AN: Hey there! This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, so some of the characters may be OOC. Also, I like the thought of a smart and confident Lucy, and a non-emo Rogue! I know that the plot is overused, Lisanna's back, Lucy cries, all of that stuff. I've hopefully put a new spin on this plot, so enjoy!**

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Lucy's POV

I sighed, swirling my strawberry milkshake around in my glass. It had been almost three months since Lisanna had returned from the 'dead' and almost no one was talking to me. They were still wrapped up in elation for the return of their white haired Take Over Mage, and had completely forgotten about me. Even Team Natsu. The only people who acknowledged me were Levy, Wendy, Gajeel, Romeo, Master, Charla, Happy, and Pantherlily, but with the exception of Master, they were all either on a mission or at home. I looked over at my 'friends,' who were currently laughing with Lisanna.

I sighed again. It seems like they've forgotten my birthday, which was really out of character for them. Even though they wouldn't talk to me, I thought that they would at least make my birthday an exception and talk to me, but no such luck there.

Also, since everyone that would talk to me were either out or at home, I didn't really expect anything today. Well, I could always talk to Master, but I bet he has to put up with the paperwork that the 'new' Team Natsu brought in, and I didn't want to disturb him.

Suddenly, Team Natsu and Lisanna stood up, and walked over in my direction.

"H-Hey guys, what's up?" I stammered. I couldn't believe that after three months, they were finally talking to me again. I stubbornly shoved down my hope at the fact that they might've remembered my birthday, knowing deep down that I would just be setting myself up.

"Well, we want to kickyouofftheteamsothatlisannacouldjoin," Natsu rushed, all in one breath. Even though he had said it so fast, I understood every word perfectly and I felt my heart shatter.

Well, THANK YOU for noticing 'cheery old me,' OBVIOUSLY not watching you go on mission after mission with Lisanna, and SO TOTALLY not understanding that I was kicked off the team already.

Also, on my _birthday _no less! He never really had the best tact. Or any tact.

I was ready to just sock him where it really hurts or just yell expletives in his face until I turned blue.

I just needed them to understand that I had _feelings_, for Mavis' sake, and to just go!

"Yeah, and if you go solo, you could get stronger so we wouldn't have to protect you anymore," said Erza, smiling at me. She obviously thought she was doing me a big favor, and if looks and thoughts could kill, Erza would be six feet under.

They just didn't know of the power I held! It was just locked away…and now that Hikari's dead…I may never be able to unlock it…

Now, instead of just Natsu I was peeved at, I was ready to take Erza on too. I had expected Natsu and Lisanna, at the very least, but Erza? The one I've considered to be my nee-chan? Definitely not.

"Also, you would be able to get your rent money easier, and we wouldn't have to hear you whining anymore," added Gray.

GRAY! NOT YOU TOO! How…could you? How could _ANY_ of you?! What did I ever do to you?

Is that really how they felt about me? Do they really think I'm a weak, whiny Mage who couldn't hold her own in battle? And I really thought they were my friends!

I felt my eyes slowly filling up with tears as Lisanna chirped, "So, you're out of the team!"

I couldn't take in anymore and screamed, "_HOW COULD YOU?!_ YOU COMPLETELY DISMISS MY PRESENCE FOR _THREE WHOLE MONTHS_ AND NOW YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GO AND TELL ME I'M OFF THE TEAM LIKE YOU CONTROL MY LIFE?! YOU COULDN'T EVEN LET ME REACH A DECISION MYSELF, OR AT LEAST PUT IT A BIT NICER! YOU GUYS GO ON AND ON ABOUT NAKAMA, BUT IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THOSE WERE JUST EMPTY WORDS OR ELSE YOU GUYS-NO, _ALL OF YOU_ WOULD'VE AT LEAST ACKNOWLEDGED ME WHEN I TRIED TO TALK TO YOU! NAKAMA DON'T JUST KICK EACH OTHER OFF THEIR TEAMS JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE WEAKER! THEY HELP EACH OTHER, WHICH _NONE OF YOU GUYS SEEM CAPABLE OF DOING!_" By this time, I was out of breath and panting, while everyone else just stared at me, shocked.

"For your information," I said, trying to be more civil, "I have been going on solo missions for the past three months because you couldn't eve tear yourself away from Lisanna to help a guild mate! _NAKAMA!_"

"Well then, that's just pathetic." Sneered Lisanna. "You couldn't even get someone to go with you. See, everyone likes _me_ better. _YOU_ were just a replacement for me while I was gone, and now that I'm back, you can go and _GET LOST!_"

Suddenly, the guild doors burst open. "Excuse me, would you mind repeating everything you just said?" A deathly calm voice enquired.


	2. Hikari

Ch 2: Hikari

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING YOU RECOGNIZE.**

**AN: Thank you so much for reading my story! I do hope you're enjoying it! The first few chapters will be posted daily, since they aren't very long. Once we get into the bulk of the story, new chapters will be up every week! Arigato again!**

_Recap: _

_Suddenly, the guild doors burst open. "Excuse me, would you mind repeating everything you just said?" A deathly calm voice enquired. _

Lucy's POV

A girl in her late teens stood at the door, a dark aura that definitely read 'come-near-me-and-I'll-kill-you' emanating from her. Everyone backed away, except for me. Her voice was so familiar… She was wearing a light blue crop top with a dark blue snowflake stitched onto the side. A pale green jacket was draped over her, the hood hiding her face. There was a beautifully embroidered violin case slung over her shoulder, and I couldn't help but think the violin seemed familiar-and that it wasn't a violin at all. Faded blue jeans clung to her legs, and she was barefoot. I squinted my eyes to make out her hair, and noticed that it was blonde like mine, only dyed ice blue at the ends. I noticed a chain necklace around her neck, adorned with what looked like water droplet, leaf, and lightning charms. There was a large wolf pendant delicately cut from a blue gem-probably a sapphire-hanging from the necklace. It pulsed with power. I saw a dark blue wolf-shaped mark on her collarbone, and gasped.

How-_HOW?! _What-But-_THIS COULDN'T HAPPEN!_

Ok, ok, Lucy, get a hold of yourself, _stop hyperventilating, _breathe. In, out, calm down.

"Hikari nee-chan!" I managed to say after choking on my words for quite some time.

Hikari lowered her hood, and smirked. I noted that her usual ocean blue eyes had been turned into swirls of blue and green, flecked with ice blue, but-

My eyes widened.

-It couldn't be-but Mom never specified which age-so it _definitely could be-_

"Nice to know you still remember me, imouto." A shocked silence fell over the Fairy Tail Mages.

"NANI?!" Everyone yelled.

"But-but Mom said that you were _DEAD!"_ I shouted, still completely shell-shocked.

"Well, that…mayhavebeenmyfault…" Hikari murmured.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Well, ya know the Second Wizarding War? Well, I didn't want anyone close to me that Voldemort could exploit, so I sent back a letter explaining that I was dead. Sorry 'bout that…"

"Don't worry!" I exclaimed. "As long as you're back and n-not dead, you have nothing to be sorry about!" And with that, I threw my arms around Hikari and cried.

"Shh…Don't cry. C'mon, we have to go meet up with Min-chan now, remember? And I have your key. I already unlocked me!" Hikari cheered.

"Excuse me? Lucy's not going anywhere with you!" Natsu glared at Hikari, hugging me to his chest.

I saw red, tears forgotten.

CRACK!

A sound like a gunshot rang across the room, and I glared at Natsu, my eyes blazing and my hand outstretched.

"Wh-What?" Natsu looked at me with wide eyes, clutching at the red handprint on his face.

"I can't go somewhere with _MY OWN SISTER?! _ What a filthy _hypocrite!_ One minute, you don't care about me or my feelings, practically saying that I was weak, useless, and annoying, and the next second you 'try' to protect me? _WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I AM NOT YOUR PUPPET! I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO WHAT YOU SAY!_ And don't think that I'm ever coming back. With that, I spun around and stalked to Master's office.

**Ooh, another cliffhanger! Gomen, but if you stick with me, there will be cliffhangers left, right, and center! So, what do you think of the 'thing' Lucy was freaking out over in this chapter? D'ya like Hikari? A confident Lucy is such a good change, right? Leave your comments in the reviews! I also completely accept flames, as long as it's helpful. If it isn't helpful, oh well! I'll toss it in the black hole known as Natsu!**

**Ja ne, **

**Kit Kat**


	3. Sayonara, Fairy Tail

Ch 3: Sayonara, Fairy Tail

**DISCLAIMER: I DONT OWN ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE. **

**AN: Thank you for all of the views and reviews on the last chapter! I will be answering anonymous/no profile reviews here!**

**secretreader: Lucy is definitely confident about her sex appeal! XD And she is able to knock Natsu and Gray in for a loop! What I meant regarding the confidence issue is with people and enemies stronger than her, and also confidence when outnumbered! Don't worry, I LOVE Lisanna, so I'm planning something different there! Yes, there will be more Harry Potter! It will be bits and pieces at first, and then the real Harry Potter-ness will come! This _is _a Fairy Tail/Harry Potter crossover! ;P**

_Recap:_

_I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO WHAT YOU SAY! And don't think I'm ever coming back." With that, I spun around and stalked to Master's office._

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Lucy's POV

Ugh! How could he? How could _THEY?_ And I thought they were nakama…I thought I could find a new family and start over. Well, I guess not.

I knocked on Master's door. "Come in, child," Master called.

I pushed open the door and looked around. It was a simple white room that was covered in pictures of Fairy Tail.

Master was sitting on his desk, looking at me worriedly.

"What's wrong, child?"

That's when I noticed that I was crying again, and made feeble attempts to stop them.

"N-Natsu k-kicked me out of Team Natsu, a-and Erza and Gray agreed. Everyone outside has been ignoring me for the past three months as well. S-So I wish to leave Fairy Tail."

Master just stared at me, eyes wide and his jaw touching the floor.

Finally, he sighed. "If that is your wish, then I have no right to prevent you from doing so. I am deeply disappointed in those brats and I wish you a safe journey. Here, let me erase your Fairy Tail mark."

"A-Alright."

"But before I do so, there are three conditions for those who leave Fairy Tail!"

By then, Master was crying with me.

"_One-You must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live! _

_Two-You must not have unauthorized contact with past clients or profit personally from them!_

_Three-Though our paths have diverged, you must always live on with all of your might! You must never treat your own life as something insignificant! You must never forget the friends you love for as long as you live!"_

Master put his palm over my pink mark, and his hand glowed.

When he took his hand away, my mark was gone.

"S-Sayonara, Mas-Markarov."

"Sayonara, Lucy. Come back and visit."

With one last look around me, I pushed open the door and walked back to my sister.

Natsu's POV

I watched in horror as Lucy walked to Master's office. I tried calling her, but I had no voice. Literally. I spun around and saw Hikari pointing some stick at me threateningly.

"_You. Let. Lucy. Make. Her. Own. Decisions. _She's had _enough _of you trying to control her life! Besides, after what you guys had said to her, I will eat your shoes if she listens."

I tried to say that Lucy would definitely listen to us, since we are her nakama, but no sound would come out of my mouth.

Erza, seeing this, angrily asked "What did you do to Natsu?"

"Yeah, what did you do to my poor Natsy?" Added Lisanna.

"Oh nothing, just got rid of his voice," Hikari nonchalantly replied, studying her nails.

"Well, then _GIVE IT BACK!_" Lisanna screeched.

"I'm not giving anything back until Lucy is done talking with your Guild Master."

Lisanna started to protest, but Hikari cut her off. "Take it or leave it, I can easily leave him like this."

Gray grabbed Lisanna's arm as she was about to say something, hissing "We should take it, who knows what else she could do."

I glared at Hikari, but stopped when she glared back. If she could remove my voice, who knows what else she could do! And besides, she was scary. She had this aura that reminded me of frozen flames; cold and hot, hate and anger, rolled into one. When she glared, her normally warm and soft blue-green eyes hardened into ice and seemed to cut through my soul. It sent shivers down my spine.

I finally noticed that everyone else was watching us, sporting looks of despair, terror, and guilt.

Just when not having my voice was unbearable, Lucy came back out, tear stains evident on her face and her mark _erased. _It was _GONE!_ Hikari pointed her stick at me once again and muttered something under her breath.

I felt my voice come back and begged "Lucy don't go, we are all your nakama, right?"

She turned around and gave me a glare so cold I involuntarily took a step back and flinched.

"No, _YOU _are not my nakama. Nakama don't ignore each other for months on end, and nakama don't say such cruel things about other. Nakama would've helped each other get over their weaknesses! Nakama don't betray the other's trust!"

Those last words made me freeze. Did she really think we betrayed her? All I really wanted was my childhood best friend to be back on my team; I thought Lucy understood! That's what Lisanna said! OH Mavis, what have we done?

I wanted to apologize, but the only thing that would come out of my mouth was "What…?"

"You once said that you would destroy anyone who hurt me. You _promised._ Who are you going to destroy now?"

Lucy seemed to visibly deflate after she finished shouting.

"Of all days, Natsu, of all days. Today was my birthday,"

I now felt like someone had taken a ten ton hammer to my head, and the broken pieces of me were raining down. Her…Birthday? And…we didn't…realize?

"C'mon, Lucy, let's go or else we'll miss the train," Hikari whispered.

And with that, Lucy and Hikari swept out of the guild.

Just as the guild doors were closing, I heard her whisper, "Sayonara, Fairy Tail."

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**Another chapter done! I'm sorry for any Natsu OOCness, but the way I see it is that Natsu had just lost Lucy as a friend, the person who he had brought to Fairy Tail in the first place, and so was unable to get angry or act rashly. Oh, I want to hear your theories about who Min-chan may be! She may be from the anime, she may be another OC! Also, which guild do you think Lucy and Hikari will end up in? Reviews are highly appreciated!**

**Ja ne, **

**Kit Kat**


	4. The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth

Ch 4: The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AMAZING FAIRY TAIL MANGA SERIES, AS MUCH AS I WISH I DID.**

**AN: The reviews are steadily trickling in, and I have to say a big thank you for all of the support so far! We're getting into some longer chapters now, and only a few more until daily updates will turn into weekly updates!**

_Recap: _

_And with that, Lucy and Hikari swept out of the guild. Just as the guild doors were closing, I heard her whisper, "Sayonara, Fairy Tail."_

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Hikari's POV

I sighed, looking at my imouto, who had tears streaking stubbornly down her face, no matter how hard she tried to repress them. I knew that leaving Fairy Tail was up there with Mother's death in terms of sadness, and I vowed that Min-chan and I would make sure she never felt like this again.

"S-So, nee-chan, where are we going?" Lucy sniffled.

"Well, we are going to look for Min-chan's new guild! I cheered, trying to get Lucy to be happy again.

"Min-chan? She's here?! I never knew! Let's get there fast so we can unlock me and show Fairy Tail how strong I really am!"

Lucy was happy again, skipping around me like a little kid.

I chuckled, "Well then come on! We can't miss the train,"

"The train? I thought you only used that as an excuse to leave! Are we really taking one? Don't you have that weird teleportationy thing?" Lucy asked.

I smiled, shaking my head fondly. "Well, yes, I do have that 'weird teleportationy thing,' it's called Apparation. We're not apparating because I'm not sure which guild Min-chan is in, and we're bound to meet mages on the train! They could show us to her!

"Souka! Ne, ikezou!"

"Alright then, let's race!" I shouted. Immediately, we took off for the train station. I held back my speed, knowing I could beat Lucy easily, but only because I had an advantage. Instead, I ran like I would've without my magical advantage.

"I win!"

"I win!"

We stared at each other.

"No, that's ok, you won-"

"No, that's ok, you won-"

Stare…

And we both collapsed in laughter. "Come on-before the train decides to leave us unfortunates out here!"

Lucy laughed at that and took my hand.

We walked into the train car, only to be greeted by the sight of two people obviously in pain. I was about to go help when the blond one raised his head.

His cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk and his face was green. I immediately choked on my laughter, while Lucy just shook her head, snickering.

"H-Hey! Are you going-to help us or-what?" The blond guy yelled.

"Go and take a chill pill, we're coming," I said, still laughing.

I pulled the dark haired one up, as Lucy had supported the blond one. I dug in my pocket for the Troia pills I always kept, opting to keep my magic a secret. I gave each of them a pill, guessing that they were Dragon Slayers. Their faces immediately settled, and the blond one grinned at me while the brunet one simply nodded.

"Alright, what are your names?" I demanded.

"Woah, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. The name's Sting. Sting Eucliffe." I murmured "James. James Bond." Under my breath, and the Dragon Slayers caught it and gave me a look of confusion, to which I responded with a cheeky smile. I hoped he wouldn't turn out like a certain bouncing ferret-now that would be _horrifying._ "That's my partner, Rogue Cheney. We're both Dragon Slayers!" Sting finished cockily.

"Sorry about Onee-chan. She's not in the best mood right now. My name's Lucy! She's Hikari, my nee-chan. Have you heard of someone named Minerva Orlando? We're trying to find her."

There was a beat of silence, and then-

"_W-WHAT?!_ DO YOU HAVE A _DEATH WISH?!_" Sting screeched.

"Baka!" Rogue muttered, elbowing Sting's side as I clamped my hands over my ears, rocking back and forth to get rid of the ringing.

"Ouch! Sorry, didn't know you had sensitive hearing. Yeah, we know a Minerva, why?" Sting looked at us, questions obvious in his eyes.

We ignored the question. "Really?! You know Min-ch-I mean Minerva?! What guild is she in?" Lucy asked, leaning in excitedly.

"Only the best and strongest guild of course!" Sting smirked. "Sabertooth. That's our guild too. We're the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. Of course _you_ wouldn't have kept up with the times, _Fairy._"

I glared at him, ready to punch him into kingdom come. Sting noticed this, and backed up really fast, earning weird looks from passengers.

"H-Hey, I-I meant that in the best way possible, o-of course!" He said, hoping to calm me down.

Hearing the work 'Fairy' made me boil with anger, recalling how badly Lucy's guild mates had treated her.

"N-Ne, Onee-chan, I'll tell them, so don't kill them," Lucy said, worried.

I sat down, disgruntled, and said "You guys should count your lucky stars that Luce was here, or else both of you would've been knocked out. Just for further reference, I _HATE_ Fairy Tail and its Fairies, so don't mention them unless saying how you want to beat the crap out of them."

Sting eyed me with respect, saying "Hey Lucy! Is this really your sister? She doesn't seem anything like you! She's more badass and evil."

I heard a small sniffle, and whipped my head around to look at Lucy, who was struggling not to cry. "Hey, Luce? What's wrong?"

Lucy cried harder. "Luce…t-that's what N-Natsu called me before," Lucy cried.

I froze.

I had no idea.

"T-That's ok, d-don't worry,"

"Hey, what happened in Fairy Tail, Lucy?" I looked at Rogue, who had just spoken.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Lucy cut me off. "Well," she said, and stopped crying. "Lisanna Strauss came back from 'the dead' and they ignored me for three whole months because of it; the only people talking to me were Levy, Wendy, Gajeel, Romeo, Master, Charla, and Happy. I was just sitting at the bar when Team Natsu plus Lisanna came up behind me and basically called me weak, pathetic, whiny, and kicked me off the team."

"_WHAT?!"_ Sting roared, forgetting about my sensitive hearing for a moment. I didn't care, though. I barely registered Sting's roars and shouts. It felt like I was submerged underwater, all the sounds muffled and fuzzy and I vaguely noted I was shaking. I was only there for the last part of that white haired mage's-What was her name again? Something like Lisa-speech, and had no idea what had transpired before. I had apparated to the door, and the crack had drowned out any previous words I might've picked up. During Lucy's rant, she had said that her team had practically called her weak, but I was only half-listening, choosing to tune everyone else out and study the people in the guild. That was probably for the best, because even those last words made my blood boil and see red.

I noticed Sting stalking up and down in our compartment, ranting. I only caught snippets of his rant, though.

"Oh, when I see Fairy Tail again-"

"I'll take Natsu's head and-"

"Those _idiot_ fairies-"

"Thought they were all about _NAKAMA - _"

I looked at Sting, shoving my anger into the back of my head, calming myself down as I vowed to be there when he went through with those threats. He didn't seem like the type to get so angry on a neat stranger's behalf, and he seemed to notice the same thing as he stopped pacing for a second, his face flushing a pale pink before going back to wearing a hole in the floor and ranting.

I mentally smirked; this would be fun. Sting obviously had a soft spot for my imouto, and I would be watching if he decided to act on that soft spot and turn it into a crush. I also vowed that if he hurt my precious imouto in any way I would be there to beat the crap out of him. Well, after Lucy was done with him, because she definitely would be the first to unleash her rage on him, and she definitely could hold her own. I decided that was enough of prying into Sting and Lucy's possible love life and decided to look at Rogue.

Rogue, on the other hand, had gone completely still, his face chalk white.

He looked murderous, but composed himself enough that he could say, "Sting, stop ranting before you make one of us deaf. Also, the Grand Magic Games are coming up, so we'll get revenge by beating them."

Sting looked at Rogue in awe before grabbing his shoulders, shaking him and yelling, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ROGUE CHENEY?! HE _NEVER _TALKS THIS MUCH!"

"Sting, _EARS_!" I screeched.

"Sorry,"

"And to answer your question from earlier, Sting, it's still me, but I just decide not to talk around you because you give me a headache."

Sting pouted at this, depressed.

Lucy gave him a smile and said, "Don't be like that! How about this, we'll join Sabertooth and kick Fairy Tail's butts!"

"ALRIGHT!" Both Sting and Rogue cheered, enlightened.

I noticed Sting steal a look at Lucy, and I smirked. Their love life would be so much fun to mess with.

Suddenly, the intercom came on. "Now entering Montrain City."

Sting jumped up, excited.

"Yosh! Let's go!"

* * *

Natsu's POV

As soon as the guild doors closed, I fell to the ground. Conversations burst out between guild members, but I saw everything through a screen, not paying attention to anyone or anything, not even Lisanna, who was currently pulling on my arm, pouting and whining in my ear.

My world shattered when I thought of what Levy, Wendy, Gajeel, Romeo, Gramps, Charla, Happy, and Lily would say. More likely do, as I thought up different scenarios of torture that they would prepare for me. It just made it all the worse that today was Luce's birthday and that they would probably be back, happy, and laden with presents to give.

I only stood when Erza pulled me up, her face streaked with tears.

"YOU-YOU SAID TH-THAT LUCY WAS F-FINE WITH IT AND THAT-THAT SHE WAS OKAY!" Erza thundered as best as she could, but the effect was lost with her shaky voice. I didn't even wince when my dragon hearing magnified and multiplied her voice, almost shattering my eardrums.

I deserved it. I deserved it for hurting nakama.

"ANSWER ME NATSU! _WHY DID YOU SAY SHE WAS FINE WITH IT?!_" Erza's voice had taken on a keening note of desperation, like she had awoken from her worst nightmare just to find out that it was true.

"I-I-Lisanna told me that she had talked to Lucy about leaving the team and that she was fine with it," I whispered, my voice dead with grief.

But before Erza could turn on Lisanna, Gray had gotten there first, his tears forming soft snowflakes on his face.

And we all froze.

There was a thud as Lisanna fell to the ground. Black smoke poured out of her mouth, and floated away.

Lisanna shook her head, as if she had a headache. "What-What happened? I could've _sworn_ I was in my room, and that I was-_JULY 1__st__?! _What-_WHAT?! _ Have I learned how to time travel?! It was April 1st just a second ago-"

"Wait wait wait-you _really_ don't remember _ANYTHING_ that happened in the past _THREE MONTHS?!_" Gray looked at Lisanna, untrusting and incredulous.

"Nooo… Should I?"

I just stared at her. She didn't remember anything-which meant that she couldn't _possibly_ have been responsible-but then _what happened-_

Lisanna's voice startled me out of my inner turmoil. "Anyways… Could someone tell me what in the name of Mavis happened in these past three months so that I can see if I remember anything at all? Oh, and to catch up on stuff…"

"You came up to me and you said to kick Lucy off Team Natsu," I began.

Her eye widened as I spoke.

"You said that you talked to Lucy about it and that she was perfectly fine with being off the team. You also came to everyone and told stories of Edolas, and we forgot about Lucy…"

"And today we kicked Lucy off the team while saying some really hurtful comments, which we didn't mean," Gray spoke up.

"It was odd, the words just tumbled out of our mouths and we couldn't control them-and because I wasn't strong enough to fight it I have hurt a nakama! Please punch me!" Erza finished.

"Oh…" Lisanna started crying. "Y-You guys a-always made he-her seem-seem so nice, and-and now I just h-had to go and s-say those things!" Now Lisanna was outright sobbing.

Just then, Gramps appeared in front of us, looking disappointed.

I looked away. I couldn't take that look right now. It was almost exactly like the look that Lucy gave us when we destroyed something during a mission, and my heart clenched.

"I'm terribly disappointed in you, children. You should've noticed," Gramps said softly, which made it all the worse.

I wish that he would just yell at us.

I take it back. I was afraid of what they'd say, not do. Physical pain was easy to recover from, and even though I deserved all of it, emotional pain hurt more and left a scar on your heart that would never heal.

He finally looked at Lisanna, after pinning each Fairy Tail member down with that 'I-know-you-could-do-better' look.

Gramps put a hand on Lisanna's shoulder.

"There there, child. You didn't remember anything from three months ago; it couldn't have been you. Later, we'll have to look around in your house. That is the last place you remember being, right?"

"Yeah," Lisanna replied, still down from driving out one of her own nakama.

"Well then, we'll figure this out and get Lucy back!" Gramps cheered.

"YOSH!" I cried, desperate to fix the mess I made.

"Let's go, Happy!"

* * *

**And we learn the truth! Sort of… (Anyone who can tell me where that reference is from will get virtual choco chip cookies! ;P) So, Lisanna's not evil! Yay! I'd never do that to a Fairy Tail member! I do hope I was good on the subtle StiCy fluff...never written it before, and it doesn't help that I have no idea how to even _write_ fluff, so helpful comments highly appreciated! We also took a peek inside Natsu's mind…which was surprisingly mature. He'll be fine the next time we see him though! (A mature Natsu…KOWAI!)**

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	5. Sabertooth

Ch 5: Sabertooth

**DISCLAIMER- LAST I CHECKED, I WAS A GIRL, NOT A 37 YEAR OLD MAN.**

**AN: Hey! The people reading this story is skyrocketing, and I am ecstatic about that! I will be jumping back and forth from Fairy Tail to Sabertooth on occasion, though our Slayer Four are still the (protagonist) main characters! Enjoy!**

_Recap: "Well then, we'll figure this out and get Lucy back! Gramps cheered. "YOSH!" I cried, desperate to fix the mess I made. "Let's go, Happy!"_

* * *

Sting's POV

"Well, here we are. Sabertooth." I looked back to see what Lucy and Hikari's reactions were to the majesty of the Sabertooth guild.

Their mouths were half-open, and Hikari's fingers were twitching slightly, for what reason I have no idea.

I looked at my guild. It certainly was impressive, what with the many smaller buildings that made up the guild, all dark an imposing. Towers jutted out from various points of the structure, and the windows and pillars gave the building an odd shape, not one unlike a temple. At the top of the guild stoop a massive saber-toothed cat, the namesake of the guild.

"So," I smirked. "Speechless by the grandeur and the sophistication that is Sabertooth?"

Rogue blinked at me, took my shoulders and shook me. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH STING EUCLIFFE?! HE WOULD _NEVER_ KNOW THESE SOPHISTICATED WORDS!" Rogue shouted, as Lucy and Hikari giggled.

"U-Urasai!"

Lucy giggled again, and I glared at her half-heartedly.

And stared.

The sun backlighted her head, crowning her with a golden halo. Her warm chocolate eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter, and her smile was wide, showing off pearly white teeth that contrasted with rosy pink lips. She looked so beau-_WHAT?!_

The Great and Powerful Sting does not think girls are beautiful! They are only his toys! Even if they looked like an angel-SMACK!

Lucy looked at me, confused. "Did you just smack yourself?"

"Um…yes?" Oh Kami, what was she doing to me?

I looked at Hikari, who was currently giving me a very knowing smirk, and looking between Lucy and Hikari with amusement dancing in her eyes. I flushed slightly, before getting my blush under control and turned back to Lucy.

"A-Anyways, what do you think of the guild?"

"It is grand, like you said. It doesn't give out a really good vibe though." Lucy said, frowning.

"Yeah, it's…dark." Hikari added. "But I still want to draw it!"

So that's why her fingers were twitching. I thought she was spazzing out.

"Also, it's not _that_ grand." I gaped at Hikari, astonished.

"W-What? I've been to Fairy Tail-it's not this big-"

Hikari laughed. "I was talking about the Heartfilia mansion. It's _much_ larger than the guild."

Rogue and I both nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright then, come on," Rogue said. "We have to introduce you, and hope you don't get torn into pieces by Minerva."

I shuddered. Minerva could get really scary, and she had her dad, the Master, to back her up. The two girls just stared at us as if we had just dropped down from the planet Mars.

"Torn into pieces? Minerva? _Never,_" Lucy stated confidently.

Before I could ask if the Minerva Orlando they were asking for was the _same_ Minerva Orlando that we knew, Hikari spoke.

"Yosh! Ikezou!" Hikari cheered, and _KICKED DOWN THE DOOR._

I gulped, remembering what Minerva promised if we ever did that again.

Sure enough, Minerva appeared. "_DIDN'T I TELL YOU TWO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU KICKED DOWN THE DOOR AGAIN?" _She thundered.

I cowered, shaking. Rogue was faring better than I was, keeping his usual stoic expression on, but I could see his mask begin to crack as his eyes filled with fear.

Just as I was going to point out that Hikari did it, Hikari cut me off, clutching at her ears.

"Ne, Min-chan, you _know_ I have sensitive hearing!"

Whispers went around the guild, saying, "That new girl is _SO_ dead," and "_MIN-CHAN?!" _

I gaped at her, and Rogue flinched, expecting the worst.

Minerva looked at Hikari, and _BURST INTO TEARS._

The entire guild went silent, all completely shell-shocked at Minerva's actions.

"H-Hika-chan! But Father said you-you-" Minerva sobbed.

I backed away, thinking some dark magic must be t work if _MINERVA_ _of all people_ broke down and started crying.

Hikari patted Minerva's head. "Well, I'm here, right?" She smiled.

"Yeah, cheer up, Min-chan!" Lucy added. This only made Minerva cry harder and latch onto Lucy.

"I-I missed you-you guys!" Minerva wailed.

I coughed uncomfortably. I really didn't like this side of Minerva; it just wasn't…_Minerva._

She recovered enough to send me a watery glare.

"What?" She snapped.

"Um…we should talk to Master Jiemma about Lucy and Hikari joining Sabertooth…" I trailed off.

Minerva didn't seem to notice. "You guys are _joining?!"_

"Yup!" Hikari laughed. "Let's go see Uncle Jiemma!"

_UNCLE Jiemma?_

I sat down, my head spinning.

Minerva. Nice. Master. Uncle. _Does. Not. Compute._

Rogue nudged me lightly, laughing, though I could see he was just as shocked as me. "I knew you wouldn't be able to handle all of the thinking."

The entire guild stared at Rogue. Some even fainted. I didn't blame them. After finding out that the most powerful member of the guild was a big softy, and that the uncaring cold Master was an uncle, Rogue laughing and talking and _NOT BEING EMO OR EMOTIONLESS_ was enough to send anyone over the edge.

I tuned everyone else out just as Rogue pouted and said, "Is it really that surprising that I have emotions and can talk?"

Nobody answered him, and he just pouted further. I decided to focus on what Master Jiemma was saying inside of the room.

Hikari's POV

Min-chan dragged us all into Uncle Jiemma's office. I gulped, suddenly nervous. Maybe Uncla changed, just like Min-chan. I head read her mind-Legilimency is just awesome, isn't it?-and noticed she was cruel to everyone, for what reason I didn't find.

"Father, Lucy and Hikari are back!"

Uncle stood up, astonished. He looked us over…and then his face split into a wide smile.

I inwardly let out a huge sigh of relief. They were acting like their usual selves again! But I really didn't know why they were so mean to everyone else-maybe they acted like me when I had to leave? Maybe they only acted mean because they were upset and took it out on others? I know-no matter how ashamed of it I am-that I did the same thing. I relaxed even further as I decided that the explanation was reasonable and that I shouldn't think into about them being mean too much.

"_Hikari?! _Where-what-_how_?!"

I sheepishly scratched the back of my head. "Well, um, there was a war, and I didn't want you guys getting involved…or getting captured and used as bait as the enemy had spells to make you do whatever they wanted, cause excruciating pain, and kill you."

"That's fine then, though I wish you didn't have to write that you were dead…it was a bleak time for all of us."

"I'm really sorry…"

Uncle simply smiled at me before continuing, "I take it that you are recruiting them into Sabertooth Minerva?"

"Yes Father."

"Well, then what are you waiting for? We both know how powerful these two can be."

I flashed them both a grin, my canines elongated like a wolf's.

Min-chan giggled at my show, dragged us both out, and grabbed the Guild stamp, brandishing it at us like a spear.

"Where would you like your stamp?"

I replied, "Left shoulder, ice blue," as Lucy said "Right shoulder, gold."

Min-chan nodded, stamped us and then cheered, "Welcome to Sabertooth!"

* * *

**Yes! They are finally members of Sabertooth! Sting's got it bad, doesn't he? ;D Did you catch my not-so-subtle hint at what Lucy and Hikari's magic was? I hope so! Leave your comments about what you think their magic is in the reviews!**

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	6. Introductions

Ch 6: Introductions

**DISCLAIMER: NOTE THE SITE NAME-**_**FAN **_**AND **_**FICTION.**_** IF I OWNED FAIRY TAIL IN ANY WAY I WOULD NOT BE ON THIS SITE.**

**AN: Sorry guys, but this is the start of weekly updates! School's about to start, so I won't have the time for daily updates. (read: update next week, and then after that weekly updates on Fridays.)**

_Recap:_

"_Where would you like your stamp?" I replies, "Left shoulder, ice blue," as Lucy said "Right shoulder, gold." Min-chan nodded, stamped us and then cheered, "Welcome to Sabertooth!"_

* * *

Rogue's POV

Hikari and Lucy came back out of Master's office, each sporting a mark on either of their shoulders. Somehow, I thought it fitting, and went to congratulate them.

"Now you're real members of Sabertooth." I smiled.

Hikari grinned and dryly remarked, "I'm guessing we're the first Sabers to be welcomed into the guild?"

Sting appeared behind Lucy. "Yes, yes you are. Everyone else had to fight to get in."

"Aww, I wanted to fight…" Hikari trailed off, pouting.

I couldn't help but think that was adorable-_there was no way._ _Especially _not someone who I've just met _today!_

I then caught Sting's eyes, which were sparkling with excitement at the prospect of a fight, but I sent him a look that said 'not-now-and-if-you-do-you-will-regret-it' and he pouted.

"Well then, I think this welcoming party will be more than just a first time thing," Lucy said. "I'm pretty sure this will become a tradition. And a pretty good one at that,"

I became impatient, but didn't show it. "Come on Sting, we have to show the girls everyone in the guild."

"Lead the way, Shadow," Hikari said. I spluttered.

"_S-Shadow?!"_

Inwardly, I was blushing hard at the fact that she gave me a nickname (and would never admit it, to myself or anyone else), but then realized that she probably was going to give everyone else nicknames too, and calmed down. I really liked her nickname for me, too, though I would never admit this either.

She looked at me, confused, while Sting and Lucy were snickering under their breaths.

"Well yeah, Shadow, Shadow Dragon Slayer. Get used to it. Everyone here will get a nickname patented by me!"

And with that, she yelled, "Come on, Casanova!" and the girls giggled and dragged Sting towards a group of people, Sting protesting against his nickname the entire way.

I shook my head, wondering where in Fiore Hikari found all this energy and followed her.

Sting was just opening his mouth to introduce them when Hikari smirked and said, "I think we should Shadow introduce us, Sting will probably just make himself look good. Thus the nickname Casanova,"

Sting pouted and sat in the corner, depressed, as Lucy went to cheer him up.

Just then, a red cat popped up and indignantly exclaimed, "Sting-kun is the best! He has a right to think he is better than all of you, because he is!" Another cat, this time green in a spotted pink frog suit, chimed, "Fro thinks so too!" And they both went to comfort Sting.

Everyone else was laughing hysterically.

Hikari grinned and said, "Hey! I'm Hikari Heartfilia and that's my imouto, Lucy Heartfilia. And no, she is now a proud Saber so please don't mention anything about Fairy Tail."

Orga grinned, clapped her on the back and said, "Alright! The name's Orga Nanagear. We'll be great friends!"

Yukino jumped up and down, laughing as she introduced herself. "Yukino Aguria, we really needed someone to shoot that self-obsessed ego where the sun doesn't shine,"

Orga, Rufus, and I inched away from Yukino, afraid for our lives.

Hikari grinned viciously as Lucy came back, dragging a still pouting Sting.

"Hey," I nudged Frosch. "Introduce yourselves."

"Hey! The name's Lector, and this is Frosch! We're the exceeds of the best Dragon Slayers in Fiore!" "Fro thinks so too!"

Hikari and Lucy giggled at that, and Lucy nodded. "Yes, they are pretty strong, aren't they?" "Though, not as strong as _us_," Hikari finished, eyes flashing at us.

Sting's eyes lit up at yet _ANOTHER_ chance to engage the ladies into a fight, but I jabbed him in the gut with my elbow, causing him to rub his stomach and frown at me. 'Not yet,' I mouthed at him, and he conceded.

Meanwhile, Rufus bowed, taking both Lucy and Hikari's hands and kissing them lightly.

I resisted the urge to growl at him when he kissed Hikari's hand; what was wrong with me? Sure, Hikari had a quality that made me feel drawn to her, but not like that! I would never have a crush! It was just friendly protectiveness.

I shook my head to snap out of it, and it seemed like Rufus had already introduced himself.

Hikari then jumped up and down excitedly. "Hmm…nicknames…what to choose..?"

She snapped her fingers. "I got it! Orga will be Sparky-"

"_WHAT?!_"

Sting and I snickered under our breaths.

Yukino will be Star-"

"Yay!"

I nodded, still snickering from the nickname 'Sparky,' while Sting found the name ridiculous and stuffed his hand into his mouth to stop the laughter.

"And Rufus will be Birdie!"

"Birdie? What…?"

Rufus looked utterly perplexed at his nickname, wondering why Hikari had decided this for him and tht was the last straw for us.

Sting and I broke down, howling with laughter. Orga had tears of mirth running down his face, and Yukino was struggling to keep her ladylike composure, only to break down into raucous laughter at the sight of a pouting Rufus. Lucy and Hikari were also desperately trying to hold onto some sort of dignity, but failed miserably. Hikari hiccupped.

"S-So, Rogue is Shadow, Sting is Casanova, Orga is Sparky, Yukino is Star, and Rufus is Birdie." Suddenly she frowned. "Oh, I forgot to give you exceeds nicknames huh…you don't need them! You're too cute!" Said exceeds smiled smugly and puffed their chests out in pride (actually it was only Lector, but Frosch simply copied everything that Lector did), which made the girls break down in giggles again. Hikari frowned again. "Wait, Rufus, don't they call you 'The Minstrel That Sings to the Red Moon?"

Rufus, still pouting, said "Yes…?"

"So instead of Birdie, we can call you Apollo!"

Everyone burst into laughter again. Hikari pouted, and I couldn't help but think that she looked really cute that way. I blinked owlishly. Twice in one day? With the same expression? I decided that I really needed to go see a doctor to confirm that I didn't have head trauma of something…

"What? It's a good nickname!" After getting no response from us, she continued to explain. "I mean, they call Rufus 'The Minstrel That Sings to the Red Moon', and Apollo is the God of Music! And they're both blond!"

Everyone stopped laughing at this, and conceded. It _was_ a good nickname, and this sentiment was voiced by none other than our chatterbox, Sting.

Hikari suddenly adopted a mischievous expression and said, "Well…Apollo was also the God of Bachelors…and Rufus looks like someone who would be like that too… No offense to you, Rufus,"

Hikari didn't look very sorry as Rufus went into his little emo corner, depressed. We all dissolved into laughter. We were just composing ourselves when Hikari looked incredulously at us and said, "He has his own _emo corner?!_" Making us all burst into laughter again.

We had finally stopped laughing when Sting suddenly smirked and said, "So if we're giving nicknames, I'll call Lucy Blondie!"

Lucy's cheeks puffed out in anger, reddened, and yelled, "YOU'RE BLOND TOO YOU BAKA!"

Sting, being the mature one, stuck his tongue out, blew a raspberry, and proceeded to run for his life as Lucy chased him, enraged.

"GET BACK HERE YOU STINGY BEE!"

"I'M NOT A STINGY BEE! ROGUE HELP ME!"

I just watched him, a smirk on my face as everyone else in the guild dissolved into laughter.

Dobengal said, "Whoever brought the girls in here are _the BEST! _I can't believe Sting is running from a _girl!"_

I cringed as Hikari fixed a sharp wolf stare at Dobengal, her eyes managing to look fiery and ice cold at the same time.

I shivered. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of _that_, and mentally filed away in my head to never make Hikari angry.

Dobengal began backing off, and crashed into Sting stammering. "I-I didn't mean it that way! H-Honest! I just meant-"

Hikari locked eyes with Lucy, who was growling at Sting.

"Shall we?"

"We shall,"

And with that, Lucy and Hikari pounced onto the boys, beating them up mercilessly as the guild cheered on both sides. I chuckled to myself. I guess Sabertooth is changing for the better. We are becoming the new Fairy Tail.

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**Hey! Another chapter done! Lucy and Hikari get acquainted with new faces, and hilarity ensues! I'm sorry for any OOCness; in the anime/manga there wasn't much mention of how the guild was without the presence of Master Jiemma, and so I just made it into another Fairy Tail! Albeit much more composed most of the time… **

**Ja ne, **

**Kit Kat**


	7. Powers and Rituals

Ch 7: Powers and Rituals

**DISCLAIMER: IN ANOTHER WORLD, I AM JK ROWLING WITH A PSEUDONYM OF HIRO MASHIMA. SADLY, THIS IS NOT THAT WORLD, SO I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL OR HARRY POTTER. ALSO, ALL CLAN IDEAS COME FROM ERIN HUNTER!**

**AN: GOMEN GOMEN! I just got back from vacation yesterday, and was so tired I couldn't type anything! Updates will now be on Fridays (just cause it's easier) and I hope you like this chapter!**

_Recap:_

_I chuckled to myself. I guess Sabertooth is changing for the better. We are becoming the new Fairy Tail._

* * *

Lucy's POV

After the fight between Hikari-nee-chan, Sting, the ninja Dobengal, and I, we all collapsed on the floor, laughing. The boys were groaning playfully at being beaten by two girls.

Hikari got up, and said "Hey Lucy! You ready for the unlocking ritual?"

As I was about to reply with a "YES!" Stingy Bee, the big mouth that he has asked "Unlocking? Ritual? What?"

This sentiment was reciprocated by the entire guild, bar Min-chan, Master, and Hikari-nee-chan.

I flushed slightly when everyone looked at me for answers. I meekly pointed at Hikari, as she had unlocked herself already and would be able to explain things better that I ever could.

Hikari sighed, "Well, my imouto and I are…special."

At this, the guild erupted in shouts of "_What?!_" and "_How?!_" and "_I don't believe you!_"

I roared, "IF YOU ALL WOULD JUST BE QUIET FOR A SECOND THEN YOU WOULD KNOW!"

Everyone looked at me shocked. I flushed, embarrassed. I _really_ want to get unlocked!

Hikari coughed awkwardly and started, "Umm…anyways, like I said, we're special. Our parents were…wolves.

Everyone looked ready to explode with questions, but Hikari held up her hand and the guild quieted.

"We don't mean that our parents were wild or something like that,"

At this point someone snickered, and that set off a round of giggles as nee-chan and I tried to stay businesslike.

"We mean that our parents were actual wolves…of StarClan and RiverClan. Now, before you completely take my ears off about these clans, I'll explain. There are five Clans, and they all function in their own way. There are also special traits that each Clan has; for example ThunderClan wolves all are extraordinary fighters and exceptionally high jumpers. You don't necessarily get into a Clan, you're born into them. I'm from RiverClan, and my imouto is from StarClan. We are in different Clans because our parents were in different Clans. Each Clan also teaches their own elements. In ThunderClan, they teach you lightning and earth elements. In RiverClan, water, ice, and nature elements. WindClan, air and fire elements. ShadowClan, light and shadow elements."

I sneaked a look at Sting and Rogue, who were perking up at the mention of a light and shadow element-oriented Clan.

"Lastly, there was the most coveted and hardest-to-be-trained-in Clan, StarClan."

"But I thought you said Lucy was a part of StarClan?" Piped up Yukino.

Hikari smiled at her. "Yes, Star, I did say Lucy was a part of StarClan. My imouto here is one-of-a-kind," She said proudly, puffing out her chest.

I sank down to the floor, trying to ignore all of the surprised and amazed looks.

"StarClan specializes in the Celestial element."

Yukino looked up, startled.

"Now, this doesn't mean that every Celestial Mage is a part of StarClan, remember I said Lucy is one-of-a-kind. Only one will be a Wolf Slayer, which is what we are called. Now, the wolves have noticed that between the ages of 10 and 18, the Wolf Slaying Magic tends to rip one apart from the inside."

Everyone winced, and someone asked "So then how are you two alive?"

Hikari replied, "I was getting there. Our Mom locked our magic inside of us so that it remained dormant and didn't tear us apart. She gave me both keys for the unlocking ritual, and I have unlocked myself for almost 2 years now. Now, since Luce is now 18, her unlocking process will begin today. You are all welcome to watch,"

Nee-chan and I walked out, with the entire guild following us. I could hear whispers about how they wanted to see what exactly this ritual was, and others whispering about how they've never heard of Wolf Slaying Magic before.

"It's a heavily guarded Lost Magic, "Hikari replied, turning her head to look at the crowd. "And if you _really _aren't convinced, my imouto and I will fight Sting and Rogue,"

Said people perked up at that, and Sting shouted, "YES! Now, _HERE'S _the _real_ Sabertooth welcome!"

Min-chan hit Sting upside the head and said, "You're gonna regret you ever said anything, baka," At this, Sting stared incredulously at her, while Min-chan defended, "Hey, it's true! And I've seen Hikari fight before…it's scary."

Hikari giggled and said, "No mercy, alright? I'm fighting Shadow though, is that okay?" She gave me and Sting a knowing smile that made me blush for some apparent reason. I saw Lector and Frosch talking to Sting, and him flushing bright red. What…?

"Hmm…this will just be like those Clan battles with ShadowClan! This'll be fun…especially since RiverClan always pounded ShadowClan into the dirt,"

I smirked. "Yeah, you always did…but StarClan can beat RiverClan any day."

She shifted and made to grab her violin, which I knew had magic so that it acted like a sword sheath, so that the violin and bow-which weren't what they seemed-could be pulled out like swords. I went into a defensive position, hands inching towards my earrings. We blinked simultaneously as we both remembered we weren't fighting each other.

I giggled and said, "We'll figure out the details of this match later, but first I would _REALLY_ like it if I could be unlocked already?"

Hikari facepalmed. "Wow, I can't believe I forgot that!" She began digging through her jacket pockets. "Where'd…I…put it?"

I mentally facepalmed and pointed at her violin case, where a key shaped like a star hung. "There, silly! You and you're horrible memory," I shook my head.

Hikari mock-glared at me and quipped, "You and your horrible balance,"

"HEY! My balance isn't _that _bad,"

She just smiled at me. "Alright, alright, now we've found the key, let's get started!"

* * *

Sting's POV

After Hikari declared that anyone who wanted to watch the ritual could, the entire guild was at the girls' heels. I could hear whispers circulating around the crowd, some wondering what was going to happen and others questioning how they've never heard of this type of magic before and if it was real.

Apparently Hikari had heard these whispers, as she turned to face us and said loudly, "It's a heavily guarded Lost Magic,"

Just like Dragon Slaying magic, but more secretive.

She continued, "And if you _really_ aren't convinced, my imouto and I will fight Sting and Rogue,"

Rogue and I perked up at that. I shouted, "YES! Now _HERE'S _the _real_ Sabertooth welcome!"

Minerva hit me upside my head. "You're gonna regret you ever said anything, baka,"

I looked at her, incredulous. The almighty Lady Minerva, telling me to back down?

"Hey, it's true! And I've seen Hikari fight before…it's scary."

I was now slightly worried. If Lady Minerva was scared…nah. I'm fine.

Hikari giggled at that and said, "No mercy, alright?"

That alone sent shivers down my back. No mercy…

"I'm fighting Shadow though, is that okay?" Hikari gave Lucy and I a knowing smile that made me look away…only to be greeted by the sight of a red-faced Lucy and I immediately blushed. Kami, she looked so cute…! I shook my head to clear my thoughts. No, I'm fighting Lucy, battle mode, battle mode.

Lector looked at me, and smiled. "Does Sting-kun have a crush on the girl?"

I flushed ten shades of red.

Frosch giggled and said, "Fro thinks so too!"

"I-I do not!"

They simply laughed at me and said that they would be cheering me on in the sidelines.

I humphed.

Rogue looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter and looked at me. Years of talking with our eyes kicked in and I could tell that he said 'Good luck.'

I sighed. I guess maybe I _do_ like her…but now's not the time. Especially when I'm going to have to fight her…I looked back to Hikari and Lucy, and raised my eyebrows in surprise when I saw them in subtle battle positions, but their hand positions were weird. Hikari was reaching for her violin case and Lucy's hands were near her earrings. What do they plan on doing with those…?

They blinked at each other and Lucy giggled, a sound that I just noticed sounded like bells chiming.

Oh Kami…I really have it bad, don't I? …No I don't, completely ignore what Lector, Frosch, and Rogue said, I do _not_ have a crush on Lucy!

Lucy said, "We'll figure out the details of the match later, but first I would _REALLY_ like it if I could be unlocked already?"

Hikari facepalmed. I sensed Rogue shift slightly, which I interpreted to be his way of laughing silently. Hmm…

"Wow, I can't believe I forgot that! Where'd…I…put it?"

Lucy pointed to Hikari's violin case, and I noticed a star shaped key hanging there. "There, silly!" Lucy exclaimed. "You and your horrible memory,"

Hikari mock-glared at Lucy and retorted, "You and your horrible balance,"

I started at that. Lucy had horrible balance? It really didn't seem like that…my mind went into overdrive, planning battle strategies.

"HEY! My balance isn't _that_ bad,"

Hikari simply smiled and said, "Alright, alright, now we've found the key, let's get started!"

I felt the almost palpable excitement in the air at the ritual.

Hikari took the key off her violin case and pointed it at Lucy, who was standing with her eyes closed and her arms thrown out on either side as if she was going to give someone a hug. A golden magi circle formed under her feet.

Hikari started chanting something, her voice getting lower and lower until all I could hear were yips, growls, and howls. I could feel the considerable magical energy pulsing through the air. Hikari stepped forward until she was almost nose-to-nose with Lucy, and thrust the key _into_ her chest.

There were a multitude of simultaneous gasps at that, and I had to close my eyes to prevent myself from interrupting the ritual.

When I opened my eyes again, Hikari was now a few feet away from Lucy, who was hovering in the air. She suddenly fell, and Hikari rushed and caught her.

Hikari looked at all of us and said, "Umm…after you unlock someone…there are certain…side-effects. Her personality…may be a little warped for a while."

Lucy's eyes snapped open, and I could see that her usual chocolate brown eyes were flecked with gold. I also noted a golden wolf shaped mark on her collarbone, exactly where Hikari's was.

She got up, yawned, and said, "Can we fight now?"

Everyone blinked. What?

Hikari sweatdropped and said, "See, there's the personality change…"

I snapped out of my shock and yelled, "Hell yeah! Let's fight!"

I heard Rogue facepalm next to me, and Lector cheering.

Lucy smirked at me, and moved into an attacking position.

I did the same, mirroring her movements.

Hikari coughed and yelled, "Lucy! Weapons are a last-resort, okay?"

Lucy pouted but conceded, bobbing her head up and down.

Weapons? What? I scanned Lucy for any weapons, but came up with nothing.

Hikari drew a breath, and yelled, "ALRIGHT! BATTLE BEGIN!"

* * *

**Another chapter done! So, the introduction of the Wolf Slayers! Congratulations to Inferno Dragon, who got the hints in all of the previous chapters! Next chapter won't be a real chapter, but an information guide to Wolf Slaying magic. Sorry to those who wanted the battle!**

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	8. Wolf Slayer Information

Ch 7.5: Wolf Slayer Information

**DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THING THAT STOPS ME FROM OWNING FAIRY TAIL, HARRY POTTER, OR WARRIORS ARE THE WORLD AND AN ARMY OF LAWYERS. IM FEELING OPTOMISTIC, ARE YOU?**

**AN: Hey! Sorry for the late update, let me just blame two things-fanfiction (ironic, huh?) and books. I can't help it! Anyways, since I have changed this info card/sheet thing so many times already, I would LOVE suggestions about changing or completely getting rid of anything! Oh, and don't mind the mild OPness, it's needed. Trust me.**

* * *

Wolf Slayer Information-

Every Wolf Slayer has a wolf alias that they are called when in the Clan.

Lucy- Goldenflower

Hikari- Silverstream

Clan structure- (bar StarClan)

One Leader

One Deputy

5 warriors

5 apprentices

At least one mother

At least one cub

Any amount of elders

One healer

Lucy- StarClan Deputy

Hikari- RiverClan Deputy

Kairi Amaya- ShadowClan Deputy

Wolf Alias- Darkclaw

Yaro Daisuke- WindClan Deputy

Wolf Alias- Talltail

Izana Fuyumi- ThunderClan Deputy

Wolf Alias- Bluefur

(The OCs! I wonder what they're gonna do...)

Every moon (month) all Wolf Slayers are to go to a Gathering at the Blessed Isle in the Lunar Lands (Wolvian Realm) to discuss Clan related things. Deputies are excused if they are busy with something else in Earthland.

Note- the reason Wolf Slayers are so overpowered is the fact of extensive training (from age 2 to 10) and the charms from their concealed weapons. They also have to fight in Clan wars, which make them better fighters. Without their weapons Wolf Slayers are about the same as a Dragon Slayer, but a bit stronger.

Note2: Wolf Slaying Magic is too much for most of the adolescent years, (10-18) so in order to prevent death by ripping apart the body someone has to lock the magic into its private container by using a special Lunar Gold key. During said locking the Mage is allowed to keep one aspect of the Wolf Slaying; for example Lucy kept Celestial Spirit Magic

ThunderClan- electricity, ground (second most common)

Metal: Thunder Copper

Special ability: strong fighters and high jumpers

Leader: Thunderstar

RiverClan- water, ice, nature (rare)

Metal: River Diamond

Special ability: unable to drown (breathing underwater) and able to slip out of almost any grasp, rope or chain

Leader: Riverstar

WindClan- air, fire (most common)

Metal: Galeforce Iron

Special ability: fast runners and camouflage (only on grassy or rocky areas)

Leader: Windstar

ShadowClan- shadow, light (ultra rare)

Metal: NightLight Titanium

Special ability: night vision and immune to blindness (shadow form comes with the package)

Leader: Shadowstar

StarClan- Celestial, Keys (unique)

Metal: Celestial Bronze

Special ability: able to light up (like a flashlight) and gliding

Leader: Nightstar

Metals of the Lunar Lands (Wolvian Realm): Lunar Gold, QuickSliver

Wolf Slayers, like Dragon Slayers, can eat their element and power up. They cannot, however, eat a Dragon Slayer's attack and vice versa.

The leaders of the clans are real wolves. They are the ones who teach Wolf Slayers. They are given 9 lives at the Cave of Dreams from the Lunar Crystal. To show they are the leader, they have a purple star on their foreheads. Deputies take over when the leader dies, and transform into a permanent wolf.

Above the leaders there is the Time Elder, and only the best of the best can go to him and get their Second Origin unlocked. Lucy and Hikari have, so have Yukiteru and Kaito. For Yuki and Kai's unlocking, they didn't get unlocked from the Time Elder, and it is much later in the fanfic. *Fourth wall breaking!* (More OCs!)

The Time Elder has a replica of the Eclipse Gate, and only he can open it. The only exception is if someone kills him and uses his blood to open the gate.

*ONLY DEPUTIES CAN LEAVE THE CLAN TO GO TO EARTHLAND. (OR SO IS KNOWN, THOUGH THE TIME ELDER CAN OVERRIDE ANY LAW)

**THERE IS ONLY ONE EXCEPTION TO THE ABOVE RULE. TRAITORS ARE ALLOWED TO ROAM FREE, BUT IF THEY HAVE A BOUNTY PUT ON THEIR HEADS BY A CLAN LEADER THEY ARE TO BE KILLED OR CAPTURED ON SIGHT. (SAME IS SAID ABOVE, ANOTHER EXCEPTION THAT FEW KNOWS ABOUT IS THE TIME ELDER)

***IN SEVERE SITUATIONS, THE TRAITORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ROAM FREE IN THE LUNAR LANDS. THEY ARE INSTEAD EXILED TO EARTHLAND FOREVER.

Three Wolf Slayer Forms- (all forms can speak normally and in Wolvian language)

Form 1- human: same as a regular human only with VERY enhanced senses (5x stronger than Dragon Slayer)

Form 2- half wolf half human: ears atop head and has a tail (depending on which clan you were raised in and hair color your ears an tail will look different, ex: Lucy is blonde and raised in StarClan so ears and tail are blonde with streaks of shining gold), nails are longer, sharper and teeth become slight canines; senses are still the same but speed, strength and endurance are raised

Form 3- full wolf: depending on which clan you were raised in and hair color your pelt will look different (ex: Hikari is blonde and raised in RiverClan so golden wolf with blue and green streaks) speed, strength and endurance are 15x better than when human (2x better than Dragon Slayer)

Note: In Form 3 wolves can stand on two legs, though it is a little uncomfortable it allows human-like movements, and claws can also mimic fingers so you can hold things.

Note2: In Form 3 any clothes, weapons, or objects (like backpacks) melt into the pelt, and can be summoned like Requip magic. This summoning can only be achieved in Form 3.

Wolf Slayer attacks

Howl of the _ Wolf- like Dragon's Roar, only a howl

Slashing Claw of the _ Wolf- you slash your claws at your target; if human your element encases your fingers like claws

Crushing Fang of the _ Wolf- you bite your target; if human your element encases all your teeth making them fangs

Pouncing Strike of the _ Wolf- you pounce onto your target and grapple with them, you can follow up with another attack and it will be 2x stronger bc of the close range

Hunting Prowl of the _ Wolf- you walk around silently like you were hunting; makes you almost invisible (they can vaguely see your body's outline with the color of your element, ex: Hikari says 'Hunting Prowl of the Water Wolf, the outline is ocean blue), you can follow up with other attacks; lasts until you get hit

Leer of the _ Wolf- a gigantic shadow appears behind you and intimidates your target, if lucky, freezes them into place so they can't move

Iron Tail of the _ Wolf- your tail whacks your target with the force of an iron club; if still human you kick them with the force of an iron club

Crashing Paw of the _ Wolf- you repeatedly pound your paws onto your target; if still human then you repeatedly punch them

Special Elementals

Fire:

Sun's Fury- Miniature suns appear in the air, lock onto the target and pummels and scorches the victim with the heat of the sun, able to use it on multiple opponents

Blazing Flame- You become cloaked with fire and all fire attacks are upgraded, but you are more vulnerable to water attacks, nature and ground attacks have little effect, lasts for 5 mins

Scorching Howl- You howl pure heat waves, attack is unavoidable, may burn target, humidity and water in air dries up and makes it harder to breathe for the target, able to use on multiple opponents

Water:

Crashing Waterfall- Your Paws/Hands are encased with giant spheres of water, smash down on victim like a waterfall

Moonlight Tide- A moon appears above your target and waves appear, drawn to the moon and strikes your target, can be used on multiple opponents

Ocean's Trident- A three pronged trident made of water appears into your paw/hand, lasts until battle is over/breaks/send it back

Ice:

Howling Blizzard- You howl out snow throughout the area, blinding your target and occasionally freezing them, also dealing damage; attack is unavoidable, able to be used on multiple opponents

Icicle Shard- sharp icicle shards appear in the air and into your paws/hands, the shards in the air attack your target and the shards in your paws/hands are used as swords/spears, able to be used on multiple opponents

Avalanche- gigantic lumps of hard packed snow and ice appear in the air and fall down onto the target; best used during Blizzard

Electricity:

Thunder Hammer- a hammer made of lightning appears into your paw/hand, every time it hits it makes a thundering sound (like thunder)

Lightning Wings- wings made of lightning appear onto your back, allows you to fly and moves you at the speed of lightning; lasts until you touch the ground again

Bolt from the Blue- Thunderstorm clouds appear in the sky and lightning comes down, shocking all in the vicinity (not including allies)

Ground:

Earthquake- need I explain this one?, able to be used on multiple opponents

Earth's Substitution- multiple clones of you appear around you, they all look like you and move like you, can also use your attacks (only ground-oriented); lasts until they all get destroyed

Terraform- you are able to shape the ground (ex: an attack is coming, you form the ground into a shield)

Nature:

Forest's Lullaby- you sing/howl a soothing song that puts your target to sleep, can be used on multiple opponents

Call of the Wilderness- plants appear around you and attack your target, any plants in the vicinity come alive and help, can also hold your opponent down, toss them; can be used on multiple opponents

Leaf Tornado- simple. Says it in the name, can suck in opponents and toss your opponents around, can be used on multiple opponents

Air:

Healing Draft- a draft of air comes and heals your allies, CANNOT heal enemies under any circumstances

Galestorm- a strong windstorm (NOT A TORNADO) tosses your target around and disorients them, causes major damage, can be use on multiple opponents

Cloud Wings- wings made of clouds; lasts until you touch the ground again

Shadow:

Darkness Blanket- covers the area in darkness; lasts 5 mins

Shadow Army- takes all of the shadows from the area and turns into your army and attacks your target, can be used on multiple opponents

Night Make- you make objects and animals out of the shadows and the darkness (this takes much more magic than it takes for real Maker Mages)

Light:

Supernova- a ball of pure light appears in your paw/hand and when you shoot it at your target, it explodes with the force of a supernova and is as bright as a supernova, the explosion may catch enemies on the side and hurt them

Holy Cloak- you get cloaked in light and all light attacks are stronger, shadow attacks have little affect and you move at the speed of light; lasts 5 mins

Illuminating Insignia- you press an insignia onto your target and it blinds your target for 5 mins

Celestial:

Urano Metria- come on. Do I really have to explain this one?

Starry Night Sky- stars appear around you in a giant ring and you throw them towards enemies like ninja stars or shoot them off together, can be used on multiple opponents

Celestial Union- you become one with your Celestial Spirit and you share their attacks while keeping yours; steadily drains magic in accordance to who you did the union with, Gold Keys take more magic

Each Wolf/Dragon Slayer can form a blade of their element, capable of destroying almost everything in its path. It takes up almost half of one's magic reserves to destroy something gigantic with a lot of resistance, because of all of the compressed and condensed magic behind the slash. You can also control the power behind the slash so that you don't end up killing everyone and everything.

Weaponry for Lucy/Hikari

Note- the reason why Lucy and Hikari have four weapons and everyone else has two is because:

1- Lucy is part of StarClan (only member), so she needs extra weapons

2- Hikari had to go to Hogwarts, in Britain, where there wasn't any Ethernano, so she needed extra weapons for protection

Hikari: Violin on her back that she carries everywhere

Of Wolvain nature (WindClan and RiverClan)

Violin is mahogany reinforced with Galeforce iron, painted with swirls of blue and green, a WindClan charm is imbedded into both sides of the violin, strings are made of Lunar Gold

Violin by itself can transform into a gigantic double bladed scythe, scythes are shaped like a wolf head

Metal is River Diamond, handgrip in the middle is the finest leather, weapon itself is studded with magic gems that come from the Lunar Lands (Wolvian Realm), two WindClan charms are imbedded into the River Diamond on each scythe, staff part of the scythe is mahogany (;P) reinforced with Galeforce Iron

Violin case is embroidered with all the elements of all the clans, and a RiverClan mark is imprinted inside the case, the magic makes the case like a sword sheath to only Hikari, allowing her to draw her violin and bow like swords.

Special Attacks: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Twister- a twister comes out of the WindClan charms on the scythe and hit/blow away/destroy target; best used after Air Vacuum, can be used on multiple opponents

Air Vacuum- the WindClan charms suck in air, dragging target down/to you and reducing the oxygen supplies around you, you and all allies are unaffected by oxygen depletion, all fire attacks are now rendered almost completely useless, oxygen depletion also makes opponents tire faster, can be used on multiple opponents

Songs: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Healing Sonata- if played fast, only heals injuries, played slow, only heals magic, played for a long time, heals both, can be ONLY used on allies, can be used on multiple, can be used on self, but playing time is extended

Devil's Rock- red sound waves and crooked notes come from the playing and create a swirling beam towards the opponent, can be used on multiple opponents

Ensnaring Melody- music staffs and notes come out of the flute and ensnare and restrict the movement of the opponent

Bow by itself can transform into a bow

Bow is made of Galeforce iron reinforced mahogany, strings are made of QuickSilver, RiverClan and WindClan charms hang from a golden string tied around the wood

Arrow points are made of Lunar Gold, arrow shafts are made of Galeforce Iron reinforced mahogany, bow string is made of QuickSliver, bow is made of Galeforce Iron reinforced mahogany,

WindClan and RiverClan charms are imbedded into the wood

Special Attacks: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Elemental Burst- every arrow shot is enveloped in an element of your choice (from only RiverClan and WindClan); lasts 5 mins; best used after Lock-On

Lock-On- arrows automatically lock onto target, never miss; lasts 5 mins

Both together transform into dual long swords

Swords are made of Lunar Gold, reinforced with River Diamond, RiverClan charms are imbedded into the obsidian hilt on either side

Special Attacks: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Water Slicer- water forms around both swords and makes it sharper, increases area of damage and can also shoot water, lasts 10 mins

Energy Blast- you cross your swords together, and a giant ball of nature magic gathers at the cross section, and shoots at the opponent; may stun, poison, or make the target drowsy

Chain Necklace adorned with water droplet, leaf and lightning charms, with a large wolf pendant cut from sapphire

Of Wolvian nature (RiverClan and ThunderClan)

Necklace can turn into a 12 ft long whip surrounded by RiverClan elements and lightning

Whip is made of fluid Lunar Gold and QuickSliver, the hilt is made of River Diamond embedded with rubies, a RiverClan charm and ThunderClan charm hangs from a golden string at the end of the hilt

Special Attacks: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Seismic Toss- whip coils around target, then smashes target into the ground all the while freezing the target

Tesla Coil- lightning discharges out of the whip, everything or person the lightning touches makes the lightning split into four and hit other targets, splits 10 times, only works on enemies

Lucy: Heart shaped earrings

Of Wolvian nature (StarClan, ThunderClan, and ShadowClan)

Press both transforms into dual katanas

Blades are made of Celestial Bronze, with a stripe of Lunar Gold down the middle of each of them, handles are made of Galeforce iron reinforced mahogany, with red ribbons wrapped around them, a ShadowClan charm is tied to each of the ribbons

Special Attacks: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Mornstar- light spheres form on the tips of the katanas, and they are shot towards the enemy and explode, can be used on two opponents at a time, or the light can melt into the blades and every time it hits something there is a small explosion, lasts 5 mins

Evenstar- you stab both katanas into the ground, and the ground cracks and a giant black sphere comes out and explodes in every direction, can be used on multiple opponents

Press one transforms into spear

Spear tip is made of swirled Celestial Bronze and Thunder Copper, spear handle is NightLight Titanium with a leather grip, red ribbons are wrapped loosely around the bottom of the spear, a ThunderClan charm hangs from it

Special Attacks: (draw magical energy from charms, not person)

Lightning Blast- you raise your spear up to the skies and lightning comes down, no matter what kind of weather, and you point your spear at your enemy to redirect the lightning blast.

Rock Spire- rocks and dirt cumulate around the spear, and forms a super sharp rock spire. Lightning attacks are now rendered useless against you, (the spire acts like a variation of a lighting rod) but you can still use lightning attacks.

Take both off transforms into special celestial bow, StarStrike

Bow is fluid Celestial Bronze, Lunar Gold, and QuickSliver. There is a nonexistent string for the bow, but you can still shoot. A StarClan charm hangs off the bow, secured by a red ribbon.

Quiver is made of leather, the bottom is made of Galeforce Iron, with the StarClan symbol embroidered onto it.

Special Attacks:

Celestial Guidance- can load keys and shoot them, each key has two powers to shoot, can only use every 12 hours per key, and when shot the key does not get shot; uses Keys' magic

Aquarius- First Power: a high powered hydro cannon

Second Power: Wave

Loke- First Power: a giant lion made of light

Second Power: a blinding light (like a flash grenade)

Taurus- First Power: a crescent cutting wave of magic

Second Power: a wave of magic to push back the opponent

Cancer- First Power: an invisible cutter boomerang

Second Power- double scissors that cut everything that can be cut

Sagittarius- First Power: 5 sharpshooting arrows

Second Power: Lock on (only to be used with Sagittarius power and regular arrows, lasts 10 mins

Virgo- First Power: a giant hole in the ground if used on opponent, a tunnel if used on yourself (shoot it at your feet)

Second Power: chains that restrain the opponent

Aries- First Power: a bomb that explodes into wool, stops the opponent from moving around

Second Power: a bed of wool

Gemini- First Power: a copy of yourself with your powers temporarily

Second Power: able to transform anything into whatever you want it temporarily

Scorpio- First Power: a sandstorm

Second Power- a scorpion sting shot towards the opponent

Capricorn- First Power: two magic fists that attack the opponent

Second Power: slight physical strength loss (to the opponent)

Magical Draw- uses your own magical power to form pure magic arrows, the longer you draw the bow, the more magic the arrow takes up.

Can also be used with regular arrows

Blue Hair Ribbon

Of Wolvian Nature (WindClan)

Can transform into a flute

Healing Sonata: if played fast, only heals injuries, played slow, only heals magic, played for a long time, heals both, can be ONLY used on allies, can be used on multiple, can be used on self, but playing time is extended

Chirpy Tune- Helps allies and/or yourself by upgrading strength, speed, and endurance

Angel Cradle- puts opponents to sleep, if played for a short time, makes them drowsy, if played for a long time, makes them sleep

Fleuve D'etoiles: Whip encased with orange-white light (like Loke's Regulus light) and water, comes from Lucy's whip

Of Celestial nature

* * *

**Whew! That took a long time; my longest update so far! I did feel like I went a bit too in-depth with the magic, but would like my story to make sense, and I hopefully gave adequate explanations! Suggestions and critiques (as long as they aren't full blown bashing, I'm not **_**forcing**_** you to read my story) are always appreciated!**

**Ja ne, **

**Kit Kat**


	9. Battles!

Ch 8: Battles!

**DISCLAIMER: IM ALREADY BORED OF THESE DISCLAIMERS… HERE'S A SIMPLE ENGLISH LESSON. CLAIM= MINE. DIS= PREFIX THAT MEANS IN LATIN "APART", BUT THE SIMPLE ENGLISH MEANING IS BASICALLY NOT. SO, 'DIS' + 'CLAIMER' MEANS NOT. MINE.**

**AN: Gomenasai! I was out with my friends last night, and then I came home to homework for my Saturday class that I **_**conveniently**_** (cough) left for last night…ahem. Forgive me? *Puppy dog eyes* Anyways, here's the battle chapter! I wanted to be evil and split the battles, but I decided against it. Aren't I nice? :D**

_Recap:_

_Hikari drew a breath, and yelled, "ALRIGHT! BATTLE BEGIN!"_

* * *

Sting's POV

As soon as Hikari signaled for the fight to begin, I immediately yelled, "Roar of the White Dragon!"

A laser beam of white magic spiraled towards Lucy and hit.

Or so I thought.

Lucy's voice sounded through the dust and smoke. "Form Two!"

When the smoke cleared, I gaped.

There were now wolf ears and a tail on Lucy's body, blonde like her hair, but streaked with shining gold. She was grinning at me, and I saw that her teeth had all become slight canines. Her fingernails had elongated and sharpened into slight claws. All in all, she looked like a dangerous version of a wolf cosplay.

She yelled, "Howl of the Celestial Wolf!"

A howl permeated the air, and a swirling mass of gold and stars flew towards me. I quickly dodged, but not before I felt the extraordinary magical power behind the attack.

Damn... That was strong. I'll have to watch out...

I retaliated with a Punch of the White Dragon, which she countered with her Slashing Claw of the Celestial Wolf. Our attacks met, fist on claws, and our magic rebounded on us, sending me flying. I skidded to a stop, landing in a crouch. I looked at Lucy, startled to find that she had only been moved back a few feet.

Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she said, "What power... This will be a great fight. Time to step it up! FORM THREE!"

Suddenly, a golden light enveloped Lucy, so bright I had no choice but to shield my eyes. When the light died down, and I was able to see again, Lucy... Wasn't Lucy.

The place where Lucy was standing a few seconds before was now occupied by a majestic golden wolf, streaked with a shining gold that was somehow brighter than her already bright golden pelt.

"Now... Come at me!"

I obliged, shouting "Holy Breath of the White Dragon!"

A larger, stronger version of my Roar of the White Dragon came out of my mouth, striking Lucy dead on. It seemed that she had expected me to rush at her, not roar, and she was flung into tree after tree, which all promptly broke.

Expecting her to be out of commission after my Holy Breath, I started, shocked, when she bounded out of the rubble, injured but still conscious.

Her eyes narrowed, and she flew at me, so fast that I could only watch as she yelled, "Crushing Fang of the Celestial Wolf!" She promptly sank her teeth—which grew larger and was encased in a golden light—into my forearm, clamping her jaws around my arm. I winced at the pain lancing through my arm. She swung her body forward, scrabbling up my body and balancing precariously atop my head, ready to attack again. I pointed my hand at her, and yelled "Holy Blast of the White Dragon!"

She jumped off of my head to avoid the close-range attack—but not before it grazed her left hind leg, as it was singed and smoking.

I smiled. She would now be slower than before, giving me time to retaliate.

She snarled at me, enraged at the fact that I had slightly incapacitated her.

She growled, "Hunting Prowl of the Celestial Wolf!"

She disappeared.

I whipped my head back and forth, trying to find out where she went. My body was tensed for a surprise attack.

"Pouncing Strike of the Celestial Wolf!"

I jerked my head towards the voice, and registered a golden outline of a wolf—Lucy—before it slammed into me, the force and momentum knocking me down.

I felt paws pummeling my head, striking me again and again. I immediately met them with my Punch of the White Dragon.

I unleashed a barrage of high speed punches, throwing in a Claw of the White Dragon for good measure, hoping to hit her body and leave a stigma there, but the attack was deflected with her own Slashing Claw of the Celestial Wolf.

I snarled. Neither of us were losing any ground, but neither of us were gaining any either. We were at a stalemate, and both of us knew it.

We sprang apart, both knowing that we had to end this with one final attack.

I pressed my palms together, concentrating my magic into my hands. I created a hollow between my hands, so that only my fingertips were touching. A ball of magic started forming between my palms. I thrust my hands towards Lucy, and the ball of magic grew bigger and bigger until it was the same size as me. "HOLY RAY!" Rays of light shot out of the giant ball of light magic, all curving towards their target—Lucy.

At the same time, Lucy was preparing her attack. She had reverted back to Form Two. She was concentrating her magic around her in a ring. Her arms were extended towards the sky, palms up. The air around her started to glow. She brought her arms down, level with her shoulders, as if she was going to give my attack a hug. The golden glow around her solidified, turning into a ring full of stars, all spinning around at high velocity. "Starry Night Sky!" She pointed her hands at me, and the stars stopped spinning for a second, showing me just how many had accumulated. It looked like there were HUNDREDS. The stars shot towards me, as fast as lightning.

My Holy Ray collided with her Starry Night Sky, and the crashing was deafening. The brightness of both the attacks meshed together and created a supernova, and I could see the flashes even when I closed my eyes. Both attacks fought for dominance, pushing at each other.

Suddenly, I felt stars pierce my sides, face, arms, and legs and I screamed.

The attack faded, and I was left on the ground, drained of all my magic and covered in wounds.

Hikari yelled, "THE MATCH GOES TO LUCY!"

There was no cheering. No sound. Everyone looked between me and Lucy, and I could almost hear them thinking, The new girl beat Sting Eucliffe?

I heard a sniffle finally shatter the silence, and a whimper as someone—Lector—cried, "Sting-kun... Lost?"

My mind decided to remember the promise I made Lector so long ago—to never lose to anyone to prove that I was the best— and I put my hand on top of my face to hide the accumulating tears.

"I'm...so sorry, Lector."

A soft hand slowly pried my hand off of my face, and I saw that it was Lucy. A worried expression was on her face.

"Please...please don't cry, Sting," she whispered so that only I could hear. "You were really strong! Your Holy Ray almost overtook my Starry Night Sky! You can train with me, and we'll get stronger together! We'll be unbeatable!"

I slowly smiled up at Lucy, grateful for her suggestion. Just then, my mind registered two innocent little words—With me. My face burned red, and I looked away. I pretended it was just embarrassment from being beaten.

I heard Lucy gasp as she inspected my injuries. "Don't move, Sting! I'll take care of this!"

Of course, as soon as she said that, I sat up, almost crying out at the pain from all of the injuries. That was one powerful attack!

"Baka Sting," she muttered softly. "Here, now don't move, okay?"

She stood up, and untangled her blue ribbon from her hair.

What's that supposed to do? Be used as a bandage?

I stared as the ribbon stiffened and transformed into a flute.

She brought the flute to her mouth, and breathed "Healing Sonata."

A soft, sweet melody filled the air and washed over me. I immediately relaxed, the pain going away almost instantaneously. I felt my magic being slowly replenished, and my wounds closing. Five minutes later, I felt as good as I did before the battle.

I sprang to my feet, and looked at Lucy. Her injuries were also healed, and she was securing her ribbon back into her hair.

"How... What? The ribbon..."

As if this was a signal to speak, Lucy was bombarded with questions from everyone in the guild. She looked helplessly at Hikari, who jumped in.

"Oops... I forgot to explain this." She said sheepishly, scratching the back off her head. "Lucy and I are deputies of StarClan and RiverClan, which is one rank below the leader. Since only deputies are allowed to leave the Lunar Lands—which is the name of the Wolvian Realms—we are given weapons that are disguised as things you wouldn't look twice at. I won't tell you what our weapons are—you'll have to figure that out yourself—but I will tell you what they are disguised as. Lucy's weapons consist of her heart shaped earrings, blue ribbon—which you've seen already—and the seemingly empty whip handle that is hanging from her belt. My weapons are my violin, bow, and chain necklace."

So _THAT'S_ why they were reaching for those items before when they were getting ready to fight...

Lucy suddenly grabbed my hand, smiling at me. My blush returned full force, and I ducked my head to try and hide my darkening cheeks.

"Come on, Stingy Bee! Let's go talk to the others about training, okay? I think Hikari will be fine with it, and we will all be stronger in the end!"

And with that, she dragged me towards Rogue, Lector, Frosch, Minerva, Orga, Yukino, and Rufus, me protesting against my nickname all the way...again.

Wow... This is some serious déjà vu!

* * *

Rogue's POV

As soon as Hikari shouted "BATTLE BEGIN!" I started analyzing Lucy's attacks so that I was better prepared for Hikari.

Sting started off with a good solid Roar of the White Dragon—which looked like it hit. It apparently didn't, since Lucy's calm voice floated from inside of the smoke.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise—which was reciprocated by the guild in gasps—at Lucy's Form Two. It seems that Wolf Slayers could _become_ the wolves...or at least partially.

"Howl of the Celestial Wolf!"

That attack seems like our Roar... Maybe all of the Wolf Slayer attacks mimic ours? Then this will be an interesting battle... And so will mine.

I watched as Lucy met Sting's Punch of the White Dragon with a Slashing Claw of the Celestial Wolf—and how Sting was flung backwards but Lucy remained standing.

Next to me, Rufus murmured, "I don't remember that ever happening—a time when Sting was outmatched,"

Lector jumped between us and protested, "That's because it never did! Sting-kun can't lose!"

"Fro thinks so too!"

I smiled down at Frosch.

Yukino picked Lector up and patted him on the head. "Lector, there is always a chance of Sting losing—it's just that he avoids it more than most people."

I turned my head back to the battle—and couldn't hold in my gasp when Lucy transformed into her Form Three—a golden wolf.

Orga whistled, long and low, and asked, "Hey Rogue! Can you Dragon Slayers do that?"

I responded negative. "If we could, we'd be unbeatable though,"

Rufus out two fingers to his temple and said, "Memorized. This will be a great attack,"

Our attention was back on the battle when Sting let loose a Holy Breath—that hit Lucy and sent her flying into the bordering forest. A straight line of trees were knocked down from the force of Sting's attack, with Lucy inside the wreckage.

The guild erupted with cheers—until Lucy appeared—injured badly but conscious all the same—from underneath the fallen trees.

She rushed Sting, teeth bared and clamped onto Sting's arm with a Crushing Fang of the Celestial Wolf. I winced in sympathy—that must've hurt.

She swung her body upwards, climbing up Sting's body until she was balanced on his head, claws out and rearing back to slam her paws onto Sting's head.

Sting shoved his palm upwards towards Lucy until he almost smacked Lucy's face and yelled "Holy Blast of the White Dragon!"

Lucy managed to dodge the close-range attack—partially. Her left hind leg was singed and smoking, and I smiled at Sting's luck. She would now be slower than before, allowing Sting to avoid her more powerful attacks.

Lucy snarled at Sting, angered. She growled "Hunting Prowl of the Celestial Wolf!"

She suddenly disappeared.

Everyone's eyes widened at that, and looked to me to see if my eyes could track her. "No, she's not moving fast—I think she turned invisible."

Rufus nodded in confirmation. "My Memory-Make can pinpoint her location through memories of data related to her, and she's over there—right in front of Sting." He assumed his memorizing stance, and memorized the attack.

I looked in front of Sting, not seeing anything until Yukino called out, "There! There's a golden outline of a wolf there! See?"

I saw. That was a great attack—almost like me melting into the shadows. Hiding in plain sight.

"Pouncing Strike of the Celestial Wolf!"

Lucy pounced onto Sting, managing to knock him down. She immediately began pummeling Sting's head with her paws, which were met a second later by Sting's high speed Punch of the White Dragon barrages.

They stayed like that for a minute, exchanging and dishing out attacks, but none of them hit the other.

Lector started chanting, "Sting-kun will win, Sting-kun will win, Sting-kun will win,"

They stopped their attacks, both of them retreating to the far side of the battlefield to end the battle with one final attack. I saw Rufus, ready to memorize any attack that he saw. Yukino was bouncing up and down, excited to see who would win, and Orga was smiling slightly.

Sting was readying his Holy Ray, while Lucy was concentrating on her own attack. She had reverted back into Form Two. Her hands were pointed to the sky, arms extended. A golden ring began to form around Lucy. She brought her arms down, level with her shoulders, hands flung out on either side. The golden ring solidified into a mass of high speed spinning stars. "Starry Night Sky!" She pointed her hands at Sting, and the stars stopped spinning for a second. I was now worried for Sting; those were A LOT of stars.

The stars shot towards Sting, and before it crashed into his Holy Ray, Rufus managed to memorize Lucy's attack. What happened next was too bright to see, and the sounds were so loud my ears rang. Even though we couldn't see which attack won out—we clearly heard Sting's long, drawn out scream and knew who won.

When the attack stopped, and the lights and sounds faded away, a shocked silence hung over all of us as we saw Sting, lying on the floor, completely beaten.

Hikari yelled, "THE MATCH GOES TO LUCY!"

There was an uncomfortable silence and then Lector broke it with his silent sniffles. "Sting-kun... Lost?"

Sting put his hand over his face, and I could just make out that he whispered "Sorry."

Lucy, back to human form, ran over to Sting, and pulled his hand off of his face. She whispered something to Sting, and he smiled.

He looked away from Lucy for some reason, facing us, and I saw that his face was red. We all snickered.

Minerva came over to us and sighed. "Well, I warned him,"

The others, still not used to this Minerva, awkwardly shifted, but I put my stoic mask back on and said "Yeah, you did."

Minerva grinned suddenly and said "I'm really sorry that you have to fight... Hikari,"

I stiffened. What did she mean...?

She narrowed her eyes at me for a second, before relaxing and shaking her head. "Hikari is more powerful that Lucy, I can tell you that. You'll have a hard time, Rogue. Though, you might be able to win,"

Orga came up behind me and clapped me on the back. "Good luck, and show us your power!"

I nodded, and turned my head back to Lucy and Sting. She was telling him not to move, and the baka moved anyways.

She stood up suddenly, and removed her blue ribbon from her hair.

"What's that supposed to do?" Yukino came closer to see.

The ribbon stiffened and transformed into a flute.

No one said a thing. Everyone was too busy staring at Lucy.

She put the flute to her lips and began to play.

The sweetest melody filled the air, seeming to wash all our worried away and leave us rejuvenated. Judging by the expression on Sting's face, he felt the same way.

We watched in wonder as his wounds closed, and he sprang up, scrambling for coherent words as he said "How... What? The ribbon..."

We all snapped out of our shocked trances, bombarding Lucy with questions, who was looking quite embarrassed. She shot a look at Hikari, who immediately launched into an explanation.

"Oops... I forgot to explain this." She said sheepishly, scratching the back off her head. "Lucy and I are deputies of StarClan and RiverClan, which is one rank below the leader. Since only deputies are allowed to leave the Lunar Lands—which is the name of the Wolvian Realms—we are given weapons that are disguised as things you wouldn't look twice at. I won't tell you what our weapons are—you'll have to figure that out yourself—but I will tell you what they are disguised as. Lucy's weapons consist of her heart shaped earrings, blue ribbon—which you've seen already—and the seemingly empty whip handle that is hanging from her belt. My weapons are my violin, bow, and chain necklace."

Those are quite the disguises, especially the earrings and necklace. I'll have to watch out.

Minerva smiled. "I remember Hikari's violin—quite the violent weapon it was,"

Rufus politely asked, "My Lady, will you tell us what the weapons are?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, but it would be better if you found out yourself, wouldn't it? Such is the Sabertooth way,"

She poked me in the side.

"You may get to see it today—Hikari doesn't like holding back. But, she did tell Lucy weapons were a last-resort—so unless she felt threatened, she won't draw her weapon."

Just then, an excited Lucy dragging a protesting Sting came to a stop in front of us.

"Nice battle, Lucy," I said.

She giggled. "Arigato! But you'll have to watch out for Onee-chan! I've only just been unlocked, so my power isn't that high—Onee-chan has been unlocked for almost 2 years now, so ganbatte Rogue!"

Sting stared incredulously at Lucy, and I gulped, now _EXTREMELY_ worried.

"Oh! Before, I asked Sting if he wanted to train, and I was wondering if you wanted to too!"

Orga immediately replied, "YES! Of course,"

Yukino considered for a second before responding, "Sure! I want to see all of your Celestial Spirits too!"

"Of course!"

"This will be a good chance to memorize some high-powered attacks," Rufus conceded. "I'm going."

I nodded slowly. "If Sting is going, I'll go too."

Lucy turned to face Minerva. "Hey Min-chan, I know you don't have to train, so do you want to come as a sort of trainer? Like me and nee-chan!"

Minerva got an evil look on her face, one that we all were way too familiar with. It said 'I'm-going-to-devise-your-own-personal-hell', and we were now all scared witless.

Apparently Lucy was also familiar with it, because she chastised Minerva. "No, Min-chan, please don't kill them,"

Minerva pouted.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I spun around, grabbing their wrist in the process.

Hikari was there, holding her remaining hand up in surrender.

"Woah! Chill dude!"

I immediately released her wrist, flushing red in embarrassment and realization. "...yes?"

"It's our turn to battle! C'mon Shadow!" Hikari cheered and dragged me onto the battlefield.

I looked at her quizzically.

"Yes?"

"Umm... Why do you still have your violin case on your back? I mean, I know it's your weapon, but isn't it heavy? It might weigh you down, and I want a fair fight and—" Oh Kami, I was rambling. I cut myself off before I could embarrass myself further. Why did I get like this around her?

Hikari laughed. "It won't weigh me down, I've had it on for too long! I'm used to it. Besides, it melts into my pelt when I'm in Form Three, so it's weightless. And I'll give you a battle you won't forget!"

I collected myself before replying. "I look forward to it."

I walked to the other end of the battlefield, waiting for Lucy to start the match.

"Alright! Just like last time, all weapons are a last-resort! Ready... BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Form Two!"

Hikari started the match, golden ears and tail out, and I saw they were streaked with blue and green.

She rushed at me—So much faster than Lucy—and proceeded to yell out a Slashing Claw of the Ice Wolf— right in front of my face.

I hadn't been expecting that, so the blow hit me dead on and I felt the deadly sharp claws raking themselves down my face. I flinched in pain.

My hand darted out to grab her wrist, and I wrestled her away from my face. She came at me with another Slashing Claw of the Ice Wolf, but this time I met it with a Claw of the Shadow Dragon. Our attacks negated each other, and for a second I thought that I could defeat Hikari.

The hope dissipated when she attacked again—and the attack was noticeably stronger than the last, and I was forced backwards a few feet. She was only testing my strength?!

"Roar of the Shadow Dragon!"

The close-range attack managed to hit her side as she darted away, Hikari not expecting me to do that and catching her off-guard.

She glared at me, and I gulped. She was on a whole other level of strength, the magic practically pulsing off of her in waves. Oh Kami, what have I gotten myself into?

"Form Three!"

A blinding light enveloped Hikari, and seconds later a wolf was standing in her place, glaring down at me so hard I thought I would catch fire.

She's sending me that wolf stare—the one I didn't want to be on the receiving end of—and I involuntarily shivered. So much for staying on her good side.

"Hunting Prowl of the Nature Wolf!"

Great. Now I can't see her—but two can play that game.

I enveloped myself in shadows, retreating to the edge of the forest. I started looking for Hikari, getting more and more frustrated as all I saw were the guild, its members, and miles upon miles of forest.

"Leer of the Ice Wolf!"

A giant shadow wolf loomed in front of me—its eyes blood-red and piercing my soul. I tried looking away, but I couldn't tear my eyes off of the wolf. I couldn't move at all!

Wait...what? I've been wrenched out of my shadow form!

I felt something slam into the back of my head, and I turned at the last second to face her as she copied me from earlier—"Howl of the Water Wolf!"

The howl smashed me into the ground, as she was poised above me—relentlessly pushing me deeper and deeper until the howl subsided—and I couldn't help it as I cried out in pain. I was left, spread-eagled at the bottom of the hole, looking at the gleam of her blue-green eyes, which were shining brightly, like comets against a night sky. Her paws were raised to strike the final blow—I couldn't allow that.

Through the hazy cloud of pain, I aimed a roar at her face.

Apparently she was expecting resistance, as she darted out of the way, my attack harmlessly spiraling into the atmosphere.

This, however, allowed me to scramble my way out of the deep hole, groaning in pain.

Hikari eyed me with respect and approval.

"Not many people have lasted this long—especially after being literally drilled into the ground,"

I inwardly swelled with pride at that. To be recognized by someone of her magic power—that was no small feat. And I could tell that Hikari wasn't someone who just threw praise around—which made her words all the more precious.

"Which means I should get serious now."

I blanched at that, my already pale skin turning an unhealthy shade of white. W—WHAT?! I started sweating profusely, staring at Hikari in incredulity. Oh Kami, I'm dead.

I decided—since I was almost certain to lose—to go all out with my next attack.

"Waxwing Flash of the Shadow Dragon!"

I rushed at Hikari, wreathed in shadows, and attacked her mercilessly, punching and kicking at such a fast speed my attacks were almost invisible.

She met my punches with her flashing claws, and I managed to get her in a headlock. Well, at least one for a wolf. My hands gathered shadows, getting ready for the final blow, when she simultaneously bit my hand hard and scratched my inner thigh. **(AN: yes this does work to get out of a headlock, minus the hand biting and scratching, pinch it instead)** I yelped, releasing her from my hold and readied Darkness Blast, **(AN: I made this move up; Rogue just doesn't have enough attacks)** determined to at least go down fighting.

This, however, was in vain. I watched helplessly as Hikari opened her mouth and howled, "Howling Blizzard!"

A literal blizzard came out of her mouth, blinding and battering me, tossing me side to side as if I was a mere rag doll.

"Darkness Blast!"

I shot my attack blindly, hoping to get lucky and hit Hikari. The black tendrils of magic pierced through the blizzard, seeking out the air in front of me and hopefully hitting Hikari in the process. No such luck.

"Avalanche!"

Hikari's voice sounded through the blizzard, and I looked up as I saw a shadow on the ground—and paled.

Giant chunks of ice and hard packed snow—Was that a frozen boulder?—loomed over me, almost ten times my size and I knew it was about to fall.

I attempted to change into my shadow form and avoid the attack, but as if the avalanche was reading my mind, it promptly dumped itself on me, crushing and freezing me. I couldn't breathe. The ice dug harder and harder into my back, and I felt the sharp pain as the blizzard continued to howl around us. The pile got heavier and heavier, and as one struck my head, the world started spinning around me and everything faded into black.

* * *

"—gue? Rogue!"

I groaned as I opened my eyes, shielding them from the sudden brightness as I saw Hikari, Sting, Lector, and Frosch peering down at me, identical worried expressions plastered on their faces.

"Wh—What happened?"

Hikari looked at me apologetically, grabbing my hand and yanking me into a sitting position. I checked myself over, relieved and astonished to find that I had no injuries—externally or internally.

Sting, seeing the unspoken questions in my eyes, said "Hikari healed you with her violin—kind of like what Lucy did with her flute,"

Ah. That's what happened.

"So—I got knocked out?"

Hikari adopted a sorrowful expression, one that made me want to put my arms around her and whisper that it was all right.

What? Did I hit my head too hard? And why do I feel so warm?

"Gomen gomen, Rogue! I knocked you out—gomenasai!"

I chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm fine now. That was one hell of a battle though,"

Sting grinned at me. "Yeah! You got whipped!"

I settled a glare on him. "Like you didn't,"

"I didn't!"

I gave him my nothing face and turned around to face the girls.

"HEY!"

They were laughing at Sting, who was probably pouting at my back, Lector there to cheer him up.

Frosch looked up at me. "Rogue did a great job! But Rogue still lost. Fro is sad,"

I reached out to comfort Frosch, but Hikari beat me to it, sweeping him off of his feet and into her arms.

"Don't worry, Fro! Lucy and I are going to train him until he's as good as us! That is, if he agrees," she said, throwing me a questioning look.

"I already said yes,"

"GREAT! Then let's go tomorrow! It's getting late anyways,"

I nodded, and stood up with everyone else.

"Hey," I started, looking around at the now deserted battlefield. "Where'd everyone go?"

Lucy looked at me. "We told them to go after you fainted, and said that you would be fine."

"Ah,"

Hikari suddenly snapped her head up, looking panicked. "Hey, where are we going to live? We can't look for an apartment now, it's too late!"

Lucy started panicking as well, until I voiced out an idea. "Hey, you can come live with us for a while; we've got an extra room in our apartment, and no one's there."

Where did THAT come from?

Hikari and Lucy were looking at me like I was their savior from above.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

Both girls squealed at the same time, latching onto separate Dragon Slayers.

Lucy collided into Sting, whose face was lit up bright red like a Christmas ornament, while Hikari hugged me. I felt my face slowly heating up as she pressed closer, and inhaled her scent. Chocolate and mint... Oh Kami! I feel like a pervert now...

I distracted myself by looking at Sting, who was inhaling deeply and looked like he had just been dropped into Heaven—or the Dragon Realms.

I made a face at him that read, 'You pervert!'

He made a face back, 'You were doing it too!'

My face burned.

'You like her!'

Sting reeled back a little, blinking at me while I stared at him dumbfounded. He did? I was just teasing him!

He stuck his tongue out at me. 'You like her too!'

I turned my head sharply away from him to hide my darkening cheeks. What? I...definitely don't like Hikari! Never! But...

I looked back at the two girls, who were staring at us with increasingly confused expressions, eyes flickering back and forth between us.

Hikari's expression was exceptionally cute, her eyebrows furrowed and her bottom lip sticking out just a bit.

I internally sighed as I lost the battle.

Okay, okay, I DO like Hikari. It's not like she'll ever like me back though...

I was snapped out of my thoughts as Lector and Frosch, already almost out of sight, came flying back and asked, "Are you guys coming, or are you just going to stand? Come on Sting-kun, let's leave!"

Hikari grabbed my hand, while Lucy did the same with Sting. I'm pretty sure both of us blushed so hard we put Lector's fur to shame.

"Come on!" Hikari smiled at me. "Ikezou! It's getting late!"

I smiled back, butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

I looked up at Frosch, who got the message as she swooped down to grab me.

"Race you!"

Hikari looked at me, playfully outraged. "HEY! I don't even know where the apartment is!"

Sting joined me in the air, smirking. "Then you just have to keep up,"

Lucy looked at us, one eyebrow cocked in a playful challenge. "Keep up? You're on,"

"But don't come crying to us when we beat you guys, okay?" Hikari finished.

"Alright then!" Sting yelled.

"Ready... GO!"

* * *

**AN: And done! I hope you liked the battle scenes…I tried to make them unique and not repeat, but it ended up happening anyways (at least for the beginning). -_-' Now, the boys finally realized they like the girls! *squeal* But Rogue is inexperienced and Hikari is completely oblivious to anything romantic happening to her…I'm looking forward to typing their scene XD**

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	10. Training Begins!

CH 9: Training Begins!

**DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY THING THAT I OWN ARE THE SANDCASTLES THAT I HAVE BEEN GRACIOUSLY ALLOWED TO BUILD IN THEIR BEACHES BY JO ROWLING AND MASHIMA. THE PARAPHRASED QUOTE FROM LEIGH BARDUGO'S RUIN AND RISING IS NOT MINE EITHER. **

**AN: Wow, this is going to be a weekly occurrence, isn't it? GOMENASAI! Family matters and all that jazz…but no one wants to hear me complaining about my life! You guys are all here for the fanfiction! So, here we have the explanations for overpoweredness of the Sabertooth group, and the GMG comes into play! Just putting this out there, but chapter 10 and 11 may be a little bit delayed as I'm still trying to come up with the storyline for the middle of the story… "Oh, what's that? You want to know how much I've thought of with the plot? Oh, beginning-done. Ending-done. Middle? What is that?" -_-Yeah…that's me! Also, the fact that I'm a permanent resident of Procrastination Island doesn't help…I'm rambling, aren't I? Gomen, and on to the story! **

_Recap:_

_"But don't come crying to us when we beat you guys, okay?" Hikari finished._

"Alright then!" Sting yelled.

_"Ready... GO!"_

* * *

Hikari POV

The race ended up being a tie, as we didn't know where to go—Sting and Rogue really used that in their favor. I guess we would've too, but—

"Alright, here we are!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and stared at the building with a bit of confusion. Was this really an apartment building, or did Sting and Rogue buy it out? There weren't any lights on, not even one and I didn't think everyone should be asleep now.

Rogue, seeming to read my mind—oh Merlin, don't think of Snape, _DON'T THINK OF HIM_—said "Sabertooth provides an apartment building for the guild members—it seems like everyone was worn out by the surprises that you guys sprung on them today,"

Oh. That made much more sense.

I nodded to show that I understood, and frowned a bit, replaying the day in my mind. "Hey Luce—"

Click! The door opened, and everyone else rushed in. I sighed. Guess I'll just have to ask her later.

The apartment had a homely aura, which I filed away to tease the boys mercilessly about. I felt like a guest in The Burrow, which made me think of Sting and Rogue as kindly middle-aged mothers and fell to the floor, practically dying with laughter.

"What is it?" Rogue asked worriedly, probably scared for my mental health—which was probably completely unstable after the War anyways.

"I—I was comparing yo—you guys with p—people I met i—in the Wizarding World—and came up with m—middle aged L—LADIES!" This sent Lucy squealing into fits of raucous laughter, as Sting and Rogue stared at me.

I scrambled back, suddenly horrified as my Witch-starved mind immediately began drawing parallels, and blanched. Oh Merlin—Sting could pass of for a buffer Malfoy! Not...good...thought...

I voiced this, only to receive two completely blank looks and one filled with horrified realization.

SMACK! I facepalmed myself so hard it was audible, bouncing off the walls. I then proceeded to give the boys an incredibly short synopsis of the terrors of Ferret Boy, and reassured Sting that he would only pass on looks, not personality. And that was where it really counted.

Rogue still looked at me oddly, to which I defensively snapped "I've been really edgy since the War, okay? And I haven't done almost _ANYTHING_ remotely Witch-like in ages, so right now I just need to get it all out, okay?"

Rogue looked properly abashed, and replied, "I'm sorry if you thought I was judging you, I was merely wondering about this Wizarding World that you speak of."

I frowned. "You know... You sounded eerily similar to Rufus just then right...?"

He suddenly grinned. "Yeah, I know, but after being stoic for so long it's fun imitating people."

I nodded slowly. "How about this? I'll tell you about Hogwarts and everything else, and you see if you could tell me why you don't—er, didn't speak that much before?"

Rogue looked extremely uncomfortable about this, but conceded after a few tense minutes.

I heard Sting and Lucy leave the room, but didn't say anything.

"Er," Rogue coughed, as the awkward silence shattered, replaced by even awkwarder speech. "Do you want to explore for a while?"

I smiled at this, grateful. "Sure!"

My sudden hug made him jump a little, and then stare at the ceiling. What...? Okay then...

I focused on our surroundings, withdrawing the hug and letting the drawing experience kick in.

The living room was painted a light shade of gray, probably because Sting and Rogue couldn't choose between black and white. The gray probably would've made the room gloomy if not for the furniture that contrasted sharply with the wall. A long leather couch, somehow colored a white so bright I wondered if Lockhart himself had something to do with it, was pressed against the wall, other plush arm chairs and—probably accidental—love seats were scattered helter-skelter around the room, sporting brilliant shades of red, yellow, and purple. I grinned at the Gryffindor house colors, poking the trunk that I had transfigured into a bracelet charm, and thought about the red and gold scarf inside. There was a flat screen TV mounted to the wall, along with—I grinned, a man and his stomach—a miniature refrigerator. There was a mahogany coffee table in front of the pristine couch, a small framed picture of Sting and Rogue atop the table. I fingered it; they looked so happy. There was a bowl of fruit on the table, and I snatched an apple, crunching as I made my way through the living room. The lights on the ceiling were off, so the windows were able to throw moonlight into the room, making faded shadows dance around.

The next room turned out to be the dining room, which was a total DISASTER. Food was haphazardly thrown everywhere, garbage and dust accumulating on the floor, and clothes piled in the corner. I turned on Rogue, who had the decency to blush. He stammered, "Er... Sting tends to get, um, you know..."

I cracked a grin. "Yeah. He throws an eppy if there was anything remotely clean, huh?" He looked at me questioningly. "Oh, an eppy is Brit-speak for a fit," **(AN: Gods of Olympus, I do hope I got this right, if I didn't, corrections on what this is supposed to be are much appreciated, and I sincerely apologize if I offended anyone!)**

He grinned back at me. "Yeah, he does."

"Oh well, looks like he'll have to throw one!" And before Rogue could protest, I whipped out my wand from its holster on my arm, cleverly concealed under my jacket sleeve, and promptly Evanesco-ed everything of no use, leaving the room in much better shape. A few Scorgifys and Tergeos later and the room was looking fine.

Rogue stared, dumbfounded. "Well, I'm guessing that wand does more use those household charms, right?"

"You better believe it," I retorted playfully, spinning my wand slowly.

"Of course. Though, you're going to have to put on a show to convince Sting and the others,"

I copied him. "Of course."

Looking back to the now clean dining room, I noted that the walls were painted a warm sunset orange, which went along with the brown tones in the room. The table was nothing fancy—a piece of rectangular maple wood—probably because of all of the potential times Sting could break it and did break it. The chairs were the same, except with faded red cushions sewed to the seats.

There was a fluffy red carpet under the table, which was getting old. I really liked the carpet, so I flicked my wand and restored it.

A low-hanging ceiling light was attached to the—um, ceiling, basking the room in a yellow-orange light. There were paintings mounted on the wall, mostly of landscapes and places that I've never seen before. Out of habit, I walked up to one the paintings. It was of snow-capped mountains and grassy hills, pine forests and nocturnal animals making their presence known in the brilliant moonlight. I traced the shape of a stag and wolf, thinking of Prongs and Moony, and mentally copied the picture for re-drawing, Hogwarts Style.

I walked to the bedrooms, only to hear light snores from inside Sting and Rogue's room, and assumed Sting was asleep.

Rogue assumed the same thing. "Looks like he's asleep. I guess we can call it a night,"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thank you again for letting us stay,"

He flushed red. "I—It was no problem, and besides—this is an apartment for Sabertooth members, so—"

I snapped my fingers. "So we're most likely going to stay here, huh?"

He nodded. He adopted an almost scared expression, as if I was going to yell in his face.

"Okay. So, I guess I'll tell Luce, and we can work something out,"

He looked puzzled. "You're... Okay with it?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm pretty sure Luce'll be cool with it too; apparently her team members invaded her apartment almost every day, so she's used to living with someone. I am too, from the dorms at Hogwarts," I laughed.

He sighed in relief. I shook my head and hugged him. "You didn't have to worry, Rogue. We won't get mad over little things like that—but you'll have to watch out for Lucy's clothes—if you touch them you'll get knocked out. Seriously. She can send Natsu flying across the room."

He laughed at the ending, told me he and Sting would watch out, bid my good night and went into his room.

I stood there for a few minutes, suddenly feeling cold. Shaking my head, I cast a warming charm and opened the door to my room.

The room was a royal blue, with a Queen-sized bed and a nightstand. I grinned at the blue, reminded at how long I had the Sorting Hat on as it was debating between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. On the nightstand there was a digital clock, the red numbers casting a glow in the dark. There was a closet in the corner, and another door that led to a simple bathroom. The drapes were drawn on the windows, not letting any light—moonlight or otherwise—in.

Lucy was sitting on the bed, fingering her earrings. She looked up at me. "How was the tour?"

"Fine, yours too right?"

She nodded.

"We should sleep now, it's getting late and we have to wake up early tomorrow." I said.

"Alright! G'night,"

I yawned. "Night."

Not bothering to undress, I pulled the comforter up to my chin, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

* * *

I awoke with a start, and growled when the clock said 5:00. Bloody STUPID nightmares just wouldn't go away! Stupid War... Stupid Voldy...

Lucy was still sound asleep, so I carefully slid off the bed, cast a warming charm on myself, and went into the living room.

No one else was awake yet, though I could hear someone twisting and turning in the boys' room.

Feeling lazy, I opened the window and jumped out, rolling and landing 5 stories lower than I was previously.

Looking around me for people, I came up negative and with a CRACK Apparated away.

I landed on Strawberry Street, looking up at Lucy's old apartment—after I made sure the world stopped spinning.

Whispering a Hunting Prowl of the Water Wolf, and adding a Notice-Me-Not charm just to be safe, I sneaked into Lucy's old room.

Nothing was touched, so I assumed Lucy hadn't told the landlady she was moving. Yup, everything was—wait, _WHAT?!_

Dragneel was sprawled out on Lucy's bed—where was Happy?—, Fullbuster snoring away on the couch, and Titania was sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

Now extremely cautious, Dragneel seemed very adept at doing the impossible these days, I took off my trunk bracelet charm, and threw it on the ground. It enlarged into an Auror's trunk, and I opened the third compartment. Quickly opening every one of Lucy's wardrobes and closets, with a flick of my wand I folded them into my trunk. Tiptoeing around the sleeping team, I emptied Lucy's desk and bookshelf too. Shrinking my trunk and clipping it back onto my bracelet, I quickly bolted out the door before Dragneel sensed I was there and Disapparated away.

Appearing inside the apartment, I immediately shed my Hunting Prowl and the charm and noticed Rogue was up, staring at me wide-eyed.

"Er...Hi?"

"What...how?" Rogue was clearly flabbergasted.

I snorted. "Magic, Rogue, magic,"

He flushed. "Right. What were you doing out?"

"Just picking up Lucy's stuff. She—er, we—forgot it,"

He eyed me. "You don't have anything to carry it, and I don't think you could just vanish everything and then summon it back,"

I grinned. "Oh, I could," He stared. "But I didn't." I promptly took out my trunk and it enlarged again. "Here," I said, plonking it down. "It's in the third compartment—there!"

His eyes widened. "That's really useful—but there's only one compartment..."

"There are seven locks on the trunk, and each one opens to a different compartment. Each compartment vanishes when another compartment is occupying the space, but reappears with everything inside it when it's unlocked. I've made it so that the locks only respond to my wand; a bit of paranoia left from the War."

"Wow."

An awkward silence stretched between us as we scrambled for things to say.

Luckily just then Lucy ambled into the room, eyes still bleary from sleep, ready to start the day.

"Ohayo!" Lucy's cheerful voice cut through the silence.

"Ohayo, Luce. I've sneaked into your apartment and taken everything you could have a use for; they're all in the trunk. I know you probably have written letters to your guild friends and the landlady, so give them to me and I'll send them over when I have the chance."

Her eyes widened and she hugged me. "REALLY?! Arigato! I wanted to do that, but I was afraid Natsu would sense me." She said the last part glumly, handing me a small stack of letters, bound with a golden ribbon.

I smiled. "Never mind that, we have to wake Nova now. We'll meet up with everyone else at the guild, and then go to where the mountains and forest meet to train."

Rogue shook his head. "You'll have to cook breakfast first, Sting is practically immune to wake-up calls like ice water from the multitudes of times when I've done it."

Lucy immediately spun around and headed for the kitchen. I snickered. "Lucy has so much experience with waking up unwilling Dragon Slayers, she knows exactly what to do. I think her most used tactic is Lucy Kicking them out of the bed. Works with Dragneel anyways,"

Rogue snickered. "A foolproof way to wake up Sting—dangle a piece of bacon under his nose. He'll shoot up like a rocket."

"I'll tell Lucy about that," I giggled the whole way to the kitchen.

The wonderful smell of eggs and bacon assaulted my nose as I ambled into the kitchen. My stomach growled happily at that. I didn't have anything to eat yesterday! That was a crime in and of itself! I was a WOLF! I need food!

The tile walls were pristine white, reminding me of the Hogwarts Hospital Wing and I immediately disliked it. I shuddered as I thought of all the times I was sent there, courtesy of hanging around the Golden Trio too much. It wasn't that I didn't like Madam Pomfrey, on the contrary I really liked her and her determination and dedication to healing. It was the white walls and the general sanitary state of the room; too clean for me! There were always bleach residues where magic couldn't take off stains, and it reeked. The whole place was blank and boring and it made me want to climb up the walls! I whipped out my wand and charmed the tiles into a soft blue-green. They had a rather large refrigerator and freezer, and the countertop was swirled marble. On the counter were multiple kitchen appliances, coffee makers, toasters and the like. Lucy was standing in front of an electric stove and oven, currently humming cheerfully as she cooked breakfast.

"Hurry up, will you? I'm so hungry!" I sounded whiny, and didn't care one bit. I needed food, damn it!

She giggled at me. "Onee-chan, no whining~"

"You're a meanie." I pouted and sent her my best poor puppy dog eyes.

She flinched and looked away nervously. "It's almost done, wait a second! Here, while I'm finishing up you take this and wake Stingy Bee up." She handed me a piece of bacon, and I wolfed it down before she finished explaining what to do.

She facepalmed. "Right, that's why no one lets you cook breakfast...you are really odd in the mornings you know that?"

I nodded. "I don't care, I'm hungry!"

Her face became stern. "Hikari, go wake up Sting or you'll have no breakfast."

My eyes widened. No breakfast? I'd faint before noon! I gave Lucy a two-fingered salute. "Yes ma'am!"

Rushing into Sting and Rogue's room, I paused to take in my surroundings.

One side of the room was painted black, and the other white. The room was a study in contrasts—Sting went for bold colors—bright reds, sharp greens, icy blues, while Rogue went for softer, darker colors—black-blues, majestic purples, murky grays. A couple of beanbag couches were thrown against the wall, permanent indentations etched into them where the Dragon Slayers had sat down on them after finishing a mission. The floor was simple grained wood, waxed and polished, and I could smell a stash of food somewhere in the room, though I couldn't see it. A table was shoved into the corner of the black side of the room, piled with papers and whatnot. Against the white wall there were two woven cat beds, the pillows respectively red and green for the color of the Exceed currently sleeping on the bed. In the middle of the room were two separate beds, one draped with bright yellow and white and the other bed draped with swirls of black, royal blue, and forest green. On the yellow bed was Sting, peacefully sleeping...For now.

Cackling evilly, I charmed his bed to get gradually warmer and warmer until the heat was comparable to a bad day in Brazil. Then, when he took of his covers a bucket of ice-cold water would dump itself onto him. The charm wouldn't fade until he had gotten out of bed, so that left out any chance of him going right back to sleep once it woke him. I also wove silencing charms around the two Exceeds so that they wouldn't wake up to Sting's inevitable shout and misfortune.

Sliding into a seat at the dining room table I grinned when I saw breakfast sitting there, bacon, eggs, and buttered toast. As I munched on it I was reminded of Hogwarts, and its wonderful feasts. I really wouldn't mind going back there for more schooling...

"Hey, is Sting awake?"

I looked up at Lucy, who had just come out of the kitchen. A Cheshire smirk plastered on my face I replied "He should be awake in 3...2...1!"

A splash of water.

"AHHHHHH!"

A thud as something—or someone fell onto the floor.

Laughing in triumph I told Lucy what I had done. "Charmed his bed to heat up to around 110 °F, and when he pulled off the covers had a bucket of ice water dump on him,"

Lucy shook her head and giggled. "Onee-chan, you are evil."

I stood up and bowed. "Thank you, thank you! Though I wish I had a Wizarding camera to capture his facial expression—it must've been priceless! Would've been great blackmail too,"

Sting appeared just then, hair wet and dripping, wearing an expression of surliness that just made me laugh harder.

"Had a nice wakeup call?"

Rogue spoke, startling me to jump as I stared at the seat he occupied, calmly eating breakfast. When did he _GET _there...?

Sting pouted. "You're supposed to be on MY side! Not everyone is a morning person like you, Rogue,"

I fake-coughed. "Ahem, person right here objects,"

"See? People can actually wake up at this 'so-called ungodly hour'," Rogue wore a smug smile similar to one of a happy cat. I imagined feathers in his mouth. Or a mouse tail.

I ruffled Sting's hair good-naturedly, eliciting a shout of protest as he patted his hair back.

"Oh stop whining, brat! Eat breakfast and we're leaving! If you're not done in 5 then...oh Kami."

Lucy was practically rolling on the floor out of laughter. "N—Nice imitation of—Riverstar you got there!"

"U—Urasai! Anyways, we have to get to the guild early so we can train more!"

Rogue nodded thoughtfully. "The Grand Magic Games are coming up in three months, we should get to training."

Both Lucy and I cocked our heads slightly to the right, and adopted a confused expression. "Grand Magic Games? What?"

Sting looked at us incredulously, breakfast done. "You guys don't know?! It's a competition where every year the guilds compete to become number one! Sabertooth hasn't lost once yet!"

I pumped my fist into the air, excited. "Well then, let's make sure this year is no different!" I then started to devise training plans, sizing the boys up, comparing weapon choices, and thinking about how much conditioning would be needed for each. Apparently Lucy also noticed, as she looked at Sting and Rogue as if they were on their deathbeds. "I'm so sorry, guys, but here comes slave driver Hikari, the complete training MENACE,"

"Hey, I'm no slave driver!" I protested. Looking over at Sting and finding them done, I immediately ushered everyone out the door, their protests falling on deaf ears. I darted back inside the apartment to check on the Exceeds, who were still sleeping. They looked so peaceful that I left them, along with two pieces of fish and a note.

Upon arriving at the guild, I spotted Orga, Yukino, Rufus, and Min-chan already there and waiting for us.

"I'm sorry about the wait, let's go!" I cheered.

We walked out of the guild and onto a worn dirt path leading away from Montrain and to the countryside.

"Where to, Hikari?" Rufus inquired. This was repeated several times, but all I did was smile mysteriously. "You'll see..."

Everyone else groaned at that.

Spying a rather large rock on the path, I picked it up.

Yukino saw this and asked, "Hikari, what are you doing with that?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I took out my wand—which was looked upon incredulously by everyone there except for Lucy and Rogue—tapped the rock and muttered, "Portus."

The rock glowed blue for a moment, and I grinned. "Alright, everyone touch at least a part of the rock. We're leaving in a minute, hurry!"

Now looking at me like I was insane, they reached to touch it anyways. No sooner had Sting's hand made contact with the rock the Portkey moved with the ever-unpleasant jerk around the navel and we landed in a heap at the border of a mountain range and a forest. I straightened, dusting my hands off and inspected my surroundings.

The mountain range was imposing; back lighted by the sun, the snow on the tops glinting, and a few stray rocks tumbling down every now and then. I could see an area on one of the smaller mountains that was relatively flat, and wide enough to train on. The border we were standing on was more like a small plain that wrapped around the mountain range, and I decided it would make a good track for running. The forest was dark, and I could hear animals sniffling and particularly the loud chirp of the bugs. The forest would be good for training for stealth and weapons, with natural cover from the trees and many things to hack at.

I fell into Auror-mode. "Alright, listen up! I want laps around the mountain range until you fall! We'll mark that and that will be your goal to pass!"

"Alright, watch me! I'll make it 10 laps, easy!" Sting proclaimed.

I smirked. "Then I'll be watching! Alright! Line up!" I reached into my jacket pocket and took out a beaded bag that had Undetectable Extension charms on it—Hermione's bag. She gave it to me after the fiasco with the Horcruxes, saying I should take it and she could charm another one anyways. Reaching in, I withdrew a stopwatch and a whistle after some fumbling.

"On your marks...GO!"

I blew the whistle sharply, and the five of them took off running. I watched them until they faded out of sight. Throwing my bracelet charm onto the floor, my trunk enlarged and I took out my trusty Firebolt. I looked back to Min-chan and Lucy and said, "You guys count how many laps they made it! I'll be following them around to make sure they don't collapse!" And with that, I took off like a rocket after the runners.

* * *

Sting's POV

"On your marks...GO!" The loud tweet of the whistle rang in my ears as we took off running. Immediately, I was at the head of the group, flanked by Rogue and Orga.

Only concentrating on running, I didn't know how I kept on the path or how many laps I made it, but I heard everyone else fail. First Yukino, then Rufus, then Orga. Rogue kept by me. We were teammates! We would always be together.

I crossed the starting point and collapsed, Rogue doing so a few seconds later. "Sugoī! You did ten laps!" Lucy's face swam in my vision. Then, the music came, rejuvenating me.

Hikari looked at the prone forms of me, Rogue, Rufus, Yukino, and Orga, the latter three had been transported here via broomstick. "I think this is enough training for today. Yukino- two laps. Not bad for someone who doesn't need to move for their magic!" Yukino nodded tiredly, and then was out like a light. "Rufus- four laps. Same as Yukino, except lightly applied: you do have to move sometimes. Tomorrow, work on it to make it five." "Of...course..." Rufus replied, still trying to catch his breath. "Orga- nine laps. That is really good, and you were fairly close to making it to ten! Tomorrow, let's make that ten and close the gap!" Orga nodded, substituting speech for a fist pump. "Sting and Rogue- ten laps! You did what you said, Sting, very nice. Let's try for eleven, but ten is already a high number." Rogue nodded almost imperceptibly, still worn out. I, however, leapt to my feet. "Eleven it is! I'll beat down Fairy Tail as if they were harmless bunnies!"

Hikari sucked in a sharp breath. "Sting, you're not stable enough to be jumping around—"

My vision swam, my ears rang, and I sank to the ground in a dead faint.

* * *

When I woke up next, I was in my bed at home, Lucy's relieved face in front of mine. She was so close that I could smell her breath—chocolate. I went dark red at the proximity. She drew back, leaving me half relieved and half disappointed.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" More red, and I turned my head away, only to see Hikari and Rogue standing there, the former smirking at me and wiggling her eyebrows, causing me to ram a pillow down onto my face.

Hikari and Rogue laughed at my misfortune, while Lucy only looked on with confusion.

"So, while you were out, Sleeping Beauty," I groaned. Hikari ignored me. "Uncle Jiemma announced who was going to participate in the GMG." At this I sat up straight, the pillow falling. "The people are me, Lucy, Rufus, Rogue, and you." I whooped in excitement. I'll show those Fairies! Especially the one named Natsu Dragneel. "Who's the reserve?" I enquired. I was surprised that Minerva hadn't demanded to be on the team. Apparently Lucy saw this on my face as she replied, "Orga's the reserve. Minerva said she'd rather not be on the team this year, something about 'not wanting to get caught up in the revenge and to take the chance before she decides to kill you and Rogue for having it,' don't know what that meant, do you?"

Rogue and I blanched, looking at the Wolf Slayers. Lucy still had that adorable confused expression, her head tilted to one side. Hikari was rolling on the floor laughing as soon as she had heard 'you', and apparently didn't notice the 'and Rogue' after that. We both sighed, relieved.

Of course, as soon as Hikari had found out that the GMG was only three months away, she had driven us into the ground. Laps around the mountain range, followed by conditioning sets she had made herself. 50 burpees, 150 sit-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 jumping jacks, 10 minutes planking, and 100 pull-ups. After that, we were completely drained, but that didn't stop Hikari. She and Minerva trained us mercilessly in mock battles, pushing us to the limit and then some. Lucy had us meditating, pulling, expanding, and exercising our magic. We had thought this to be our only break, but maintaining the meditative state was hard work in and of itself, and when we had started on pulling out our magic and levitating it in the air around us we had all collapsed. We took Magic Theory with Hikari—more like Magic Training. She did explain the mechanics behind the magic, but then pushed us to use it to surpass even the greatest of limits. I remember something she once told me—"Light is all around you. You are as much here as you are there," she said, pointing up to a mountain peak about two miles away. "The same things that make the mountain, that make the light and air around you, are the same things that make you. Light has no lungs, so give it your breath and let it breathe with you. It has no strength, so lend it yours. It has no pulse, so give it your heartbeat and let it live. That is the essence of magic and Ethernano." Of course, she had me slice off the mountaintop with a concentrated blade of light afterwards, so I didn't really appreciate her words much until after that day's practice. Lucy trained Yukino separately, showing her the ins and outs of her Spirits, and the best ways to work with them. Lucy also showed Yukino her keys, as promised, and she had first broken down in squeals when that weird snowman was summoned, and then fainted when the lion cat dude flirted with her. Hikari also taught how to fight with weapons, and we stared, open mouthed as her innocent looking violin turned into a deadly double bladed scythe. Lucy then taught stealthiness and battle strategies, Minerva taught to keep your opponent on his toes, always going in for a surprise attack, and Hikari had taught ambushing and locking onto weak points like the underside of the jaw and the solar plexus. She had stressed that whole body movement was vital in a strong attack, not just swinging an appendage and expecting a knock out. She had also told us that using our fingertips and jabbing in a vulnerable spot was more effective and less tiring then that of a punch at times, and to use the bony parts of your body—shoulders, elbows, knees, heels—to drive home the attack. All three of them were shouting about teamwork and trusting your teammates, though Hikari was yelling "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" At the top of her lungs when we least expected it, and then laughed like a maniac. Surprisingly, the three girls had also trained with us, something none of us expected. Even so, at the end of the three months and—thankfully—our training regimen, we were much stronger that we were before. I was able to beat Lucy on occasions, and I could fight Hikari and Minerva to a stalemate, as could everyone else. I could also create a deadly light blade, which I found could sever almost anything in this universe. I only had to control the amount of concentrated light I put into the blade. Rogue could do the same, of course, and so could Lucy and Hikari, since we were all element wielders. Yukino could keep out her two Zodiac keys for hours at a time, ordering attack after attack that continually drained her magic. Orga's electricity was boosted so much he was able to cover himself in a layer of lightning and move like it too. Rufus, however, had memorized an entire battle repertoire, and the fact that some of those were Lucy, Minerva, and Hikari's attacks and that he was able to mix and match the attacks gave me slight shivers. Rogue's shadow form was now almost impossible to be torn out of, unless faced with a Leer or someone who also had shadow powers. Rogue and I were also so attuned to each other that we were able to pull off a successful Unison Raid—Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang—and we could both activate White and Shadow Drive and Dragon Force at will. Lucy had achieved the impossible—she had opened three gates at once for a minute before collapsing. Hikari was now virtually unbeatable except for our little group, and so was Minerva. We were all proficient at one weapon, which we kept on us at all times. We hadn't found out about Lucy's weapon yet, but knew Hikari was impeccable with a scythe. I was great a wielding a broadsword, Rogue with a katana, Orga a halberd, Yukino a whip, Rufus a staff with a hidden blade, and Minerva, multitudes of daggers of all sizes. We were also certain of our strength, but still, during the last week, came to the training grounds.

"Alright! This is the home stretch! But...I didn't bring you here to train."

Blink. Stare.

"NANI?! Then why are we here?!" I shouted at Hikari.

"Woah there!" Her hands were up, palms facing us in the universal 'I surrender' sign. "I brought you here so no one would see us." What? Hikari was making this sound highly illegal...

"I brought you here to show you the Lunar Lands—the Wolvian Realms."

Six jaws hit the ground simultaneously, and we stared at Hikari and Lucy, the latter looking particularly smug. "I wanted to show you guys, as a kind of bond between us!" "But don't worry," Hikari drawled. "We didn't ask to bring you just for sightseeing. Well? You coming?"

Six simultaneous voices chorused "OF COURSE!"

Hikari swung her violin case off her back, unzipped it, and took out a beautifully crafted swirling gold and silver key. A diamond was imbedded into the key, and she drew herself up and called, "I am connected with the stars and the galaxies! Hear me, and open the gate! The Lunar Lands!"

A doorbell rang, and giant double doors made of interlocking and weaving golden lights appeared. Hikari grasped both handles and opened the door. Instead of seeing the forest, or any kind of land, the looming doors opened to what seemed like a portion of the galaxy itself. Billions of stars twinkled, and I could see planets of all shapes, sizes, and colors spinning along their orbit. A meteor streaked past the door, leaving a trail of shimmering blue-gray ice rock dust.

Hikari quirked an eyebrow. "Well? Ladies first,"

Lucy giggled, and with the confidence of someone who had done the exact same thing for too long, strode up to the door and walked through it without a moment's hesitation.

After eyeing the door apprehensively Minerva had gone through, then Yukino, Rufus, and Orga. I nervously stepped up, convinced that I would just end up floating in space or throwing up at the transportation. Kami knows how many time I had wanted to do that when traveling by that weird way we did when coming here. Taking a deep breath, I heard Hikari say "Best take it at a run, if you're nervous."

I immediately broke out into a run, not concentrating on anything but my legs pumping up and down. Before I knew it, I had ran straight through the door and immediately crashed into Orga. "Oops, sorry about tha...Woah."

I was struck utterly speechless for probably only the second time in my life. We had landed at the border of a forest and a vast meadow. The meadow was made up of vivacious colors—sunshine yellow, fluorescent greens, and even the occasional spot of sky blue or bright pink. Rounded boulders stuck out at random intervals, but didn't detract from the beauty of the place, it only added to the earthen feeling. There were odd patches of flowers every so often; shaped like a six point star, it had a pearl dangling from the end of each pale pink, pastel blue, cream, lavender, or pure white petal like dewdrops in the morning. The stem looked like intricately braided vines, and the leaves were bordered with a red so bright it practically glowed. At the middle of the flower was a pattern, never the same in two flowers, like snowflakes. They were all unique, but all looked vaguely like a full moon, with the shadow of a howling wolf head. Rogue and Hikari came through the gate, and the doors closed and vanished behind them. "Ah, those are our Moonshine Lilies, and since it's a full moon tonight, the flowers are in bloom."

She then looked to the imposing forest. It looked more like a bramble maze than a forest, the branches jagged and jutting out every which way, curling in on themselves or extending them towards another tree. Deadly mushrooms lurked in the dark, with other highly poisonous, fluorescent, beautiful species of fungi. I heard a howl of a wolf, and caught a glimpse of a bear that had lumbered into a patch of sunlight, and blanched. I was confident about my strength, but I knew when to back down. (Read—Hikari brutally crushed his ego and made sure it stayed there.) The bear must've been three times my height, and I was a good 6 feet 4. Its claws were almost a foot long, and sharpened to a deadly point. Its teeth were so long they wouldn't fit in its mouth anymore, and the glint in the tiny, beetle black eyes were terrifying. I could only imagine what other kinds of animals existed in this world.

Hikari smiled, unperturbed by the bear. "The reason why I took you guys here is in the forest,"

Six pairs of eyes widened. "You—You don't mean that, r—right?" Yukino stammered, looking positively terrified. Lucy smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, everything in Bramblewood Forest knows us, so as long as you stay close, you'll be fine!"

Hikari and Lucy started for the forest, and after a mental debate decided to follow them. I did, however, take out my broadsword which was strapped to the inside of my left arm, charmed by Hikari to shrink and grow on my command. I had to hand it to her stick—er, wand, it was very useful. After seeing me leave the others followed suit, and we delved into the forest together.

Yukino jumped at every sudden sound, and Minerva, Rufus, Orga, Rogue, and I all had our weapons out, tensed for a surprise attack. Hikari and Lucy, however, were completely relaxed, Lucy so much that she was skipping around us and waving to the different types of animals that we saw.

After what seemed like forever, we entered a moonlit clearing, and I swore I could hear whispering coming from the plant life surrounding and in the clearing. I couldn't decipher exactly what they were saying, but it sounded like words of encouragement.

Hikari and Lucy knelt down in front of a shrine in the middle of the clearing. It was made of weathered basalt and obsidian blocks, and five golden bowls were put in the front. Probably some sort of offering. But then why did they bring us here?

Lucy's hand filled with a cloud of stars, and Hikari's with a swirling mass of water, ice, and leaves. Lucy put her element in the fifth bowl, and Hikari put hers in the third. They knelt at the foot of the shrine and prayed.

A few seconds later, there was a POP and a gigantic smoke-gray wolf was towering over us, regarding Hikari and Lucy with glowing blood-red eyes.

"Ah," the wolf rumbled, "It seems like you have returned, Goldenflower, Silverstream." What? I exchanged looks with everyone else, but they were all just as clueless as I was.

"You have come earlier than I have expected, though." He didn't look too happy about that, and for a second I thought he was going to eat us. Luckily, he didn't.

"I know what you are here for, Star Light, and if you think they are worthy, then so they shall be."

Hikari nodded empathetically. "They are definitely worthy, Elder."

The Elder nodded slowly, and turned to us. I was suddenly seized with apprehension, but relaxed when I remembered Hikari vouched for us.

Lucy looked sadly at us. "Gomen ne, minna, but this will hurt. A lot," she stressed. "We'll tell you what this is afterwards...you really don't want to keep the Time Elder waiting."

I looked into the eyes of the Time Elder, and decided that I really didn't want to get on his bad side, even though I was mentally protesting and bursting with questions. Based on the expressions on everyone else's faces, they felt the same as me.

"It has begun."

I looked questioningly at the Elder and the girls, I thought there was pain involved? Not that I was complaining—

Suddenly, my body jolted and I didn't even register myself screaming, or the fact that I had fallen to the floor and was currently thrashing around in utter, excruciating pain. The only thing I could focus on was the pain, oh Kami, the pain. It felt as if someone had taken a dagger, imbued with a combination of the deadliest and most painful poisons alive, laid me across a bed of them, and was currently jumping on my body to viciously cut me open with them. It felt like someone had taken that dagger, and cut into my most vital veins, and let me bleed to death slowly, while slashing me through. It felt like someone had just punched a hole in my chest, ripped my heart out, and filled the hole with a deadly acid. It felt like someone had just dropped me into the ocean, attached to live wires, and they just let me drown, electrocute, and become fish bait for the Great White sharks. It felt like someone had taken my internal organs, strung them onto a flag, and set them and me on fire. It felt like someone was slowly dismembering me, stabbed the wound with dozens and dozens of thorns, strangled me, beheaded me, and then brought me back to life like Frankenstein and did it all over again. It felt like that and nothing like that at all, because there was no description, no words in the world to describe the excruciating pain I was in right now. I prayed to all of the gods to just _LET ME DIE_, and make it a much less painful existence.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pain lessened and faded away. I sat up with a groan, and immediately fell on my back. My joints were stiff and ached, my head pounded, and I was shaking so hard I couldn't stand up.

Hikari's music washed over me, and I relaxed into the grass and sighed.

Lucy was looking apologetically at us. "Sorry guys!"

I wanted to yell and ask 'What the hell was that?!' But my voice was still recovering, and my throat was sore.

"That was Second Origin," Hikari commented over her playing. "It's a second magic reserve that you call on when your first one is depleted. Of course, it's buried deep inside of you, and you need a Arc of Time Mage to bring it out. Hence the Time Elder," she gestured to the wolf behind her. "Usually, it would take a few hours to fully unlock Second Origin, but since the Elder is the best of the best, it only took half an hour, but it made the pain worse as a result."

I groaned. Of course. We couldn't have gotten the less painful unlocking, couldn't we?

Hikari continued speaking. "The reason it hurt...your body has already gotten used to the amount of magic in your first container; just like how you get used to your height. Now imagine someone forcefully stretching you out to make you taller. Opening Second Origin is somewhat like that, since it's forcing more magic into your body than you're used to. You would've ached for a few days, but being healed by a Wolvian instrument in its homelands does have a lot of advantages."

By now, we were all fully rejuvenated and I could feel a rush of magic that sent my skin tingling. I grinned. No one would know what hit them in the GMG.

We all jumped to our feet, bowed low to the Elder, and made our way out of the clearing.

We had been walking for a while when all of a sudden, Hikari stopped. We all immediately went on our guard, weapons out. Minutes passed, and as soon as I had begun relaxing Hikari lashed out at the foliage. She hadn't made it two feet when she stumbled backwards, and her deadly scythe turned back into a violin.

She stared at the half-shredded leaves for a second before crying out in joy and hugged a figure.

The figure had light brown hair that was oddly streaked with gray, even though the man didn't look over forty. I met his clever green eyes, haggard face, and took note of his ragged clothes; he was wearing a faded gray robe—no, what did Hikari call it? A cloak? That was spotted with holes, with a dirty white shirt underneath, paired with torn up blue jeans and sneakers. There were even a few jagged claw scars on his face, and I wondered what happened to put them there.

Another man burst out from behind the first man, relaxing upon seeing Hikari. He had impossibly black hair, and appraising gray eyes that swept over us. He was dressed relatively well, another cloak, but this time pitch black, with an emerald green T-shirt, black slacks, and sneakers, but everything was covered in dirt and grass.

"Alright, how are you guys here, Remus and Sirius?" Hikari demanded.

* * *

**AN: MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Another cliffhanger! Yes, now the Harry Potter aspect of this crossover makes itself seen! Oh…and sorry if I disturbed any of you guys in that Second Origin opening chapter, I was **_**REALLY MAD**_** at someone that day and I just wrote this so I wouldn't end up punching a hole through the ceiling. Of course I know that Second Origin isn't supposed to be that painful, but I really needed the release. Also sorry if the training was a bit brutal, but the only way that I could have them become super powerful is if they went under extreme training, so this is it! But how're you guys feeling about Padfoot and Moony?! Should I bring in the Golden Trio too? Leave your answers in the comments! **

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	11. Yukiteru and Kaito

Ch10: Yukiteru and Kaito

**DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED FAIRY TAIL, SO MUCH WOULD CHANGE. LIKE THE SHIPS WOULD BE TOGETHER (DAMN YOU HIROSHIMA!) INSTEAD OF **_**WALKING AROUND ON EGGSHELLS AROUND EACH OTHER **_**(THE ALMOST KISS OF JERZA T0T). IF I OWNED HARRY POTTER…THE DURSLEYS WOULD BE DEAD AND A **_**FEW**_** SELECT PEOPLE WOULD BE NOT DEAD. SADLY, THAT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE.**

**AN: And…YESSSSS! This chappie was SO HARD to write, you guys have no idea…and then my computer decided to crash on me! Why? WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU! All I've done is push a few of your buttons…okay maybe a lot of them (I couldn't resist the pun!) but STILL! -_-; Ignore my ramblings…anyways, I probably can't stick to the 'one chapter a week thing', what with the chapters I'm going to write later brushing past 10,000 words (Yes, **_**10,000!), **_**so I've decided to just update as soon as possible! Gomen for this, and on to the reading!**

_Recap:_

_"Alright, how are you guys here, Remus and Sirius?" Hikari demanded._

* * *

Natsu's POV

Drip. Drip. Drip.

There went Gray's completely annoying ice hourglass as the guild waited for Lucy's friends to come back, aka Judgement Hour.

Lucy. The name still punched a hole through my chest, and her last words echoed in my mind, no matter how hard I tried to push them out.

CRASH!

The guild doors literally exploded outwards, followed by the retracting of an iron rod just so it could be turned into a sword.

"HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT TO BUNNY GIRL?!"

Gajeel roared as he charged me. I immediately got on the defensive, jumping up and landing next to Erza. I opened my mouth to say something back, but a glare from Erza made my mouth snap shut. Instead, Erza spoke.

"How did you know...?" Erza trailed off as Levy, face scrunched up in complete and utter sorrow, shoved a small stack of letters into her face. "THAT'S HOW!" She exploded, eyes narrowed with betrayed anger. "HOW—HOW—why...?" She broke down in tears. Gajeel stopped attacking me to pull Levy into his side, glaring from me to Erza to Gray to Lisanna, who immediately started crying again. From the broken Guild doors stood Wendy, Romeo, Charla, Pantherlily, and Happy.

Happy.

My eyes widened.

When was the last time I had seen Happy? I racked my brain. ...with...Lucy? Even Happy had remembered Lucy, but I...didn't?

"Happy..."

He shook his head. "I want Lushy back!"

I looked hopelessly at Gramps.

I could feel the stares from Wendy and Romeo boring into my back.

"Natsu-san..."

Gramps finally decided to intervene. "Children, what Team Natsu and Lisanna have done today was against their wills. They seemed to have been controlled, and Lisanna has no memory of what has happened the past three months. Instead of being angry with each other, let's find out what controlled them and get Lucy back!"

The entire guild cheered; the others pacified. Still, I could feel the utter rage and sorrow emanating from the little group.

"Salamander, you still owe me a fight!"

"I'm all fired up!"

Just as we rushed at each other, the guild doors flew open to reveal two people.

Both were tan, though one more so than the other; he had light brown hair that was windswept to one side, a pair of sunglasses perched atop his head, a scar across his nose, and odd silver-red eyes. The two colors swirled around each other, giving an impression of miniature tornadoes in his eyes. A red bandanna was worn around his neck, along with a long sleeved forest green shirt, camo pants, and combat boots.

The other person was a tad lighter than the first person, with spiky blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes flecked with soft yellows. He was extremely muscular, showing this off with a black muscle shirt. A spiked leather jacket was thrown on top of that, paired with spiked bracelets, light blue skinny jeans artfully torn up, and combat boots. The two together made an imposing duo, and by the looks on their faces they knew that.

The tanner one spoke. "The name's Amano Yukiteru, and the one next to me is Takuma Kaito. We would like to join Fairy Tail in the hopes of winning the GMG."

Macao's adamant "WE'RE NOT PARTICIPATING!" Was drowned out by questions from most of the Tenrou Group. Gajeel and I even stopped fighting for this.

"Of course you can join Fairy Tail, we're all nakama here. If I may ask, what is the GMG...? Gramps trailed off as Mirajane came up to face them with the guild stamp in hand.

"You didn't know—oh right, you were stuck on Tenroujima." He stopped and quirked a smile at Yuki, who was appraising as Mirajane stamped the mark on his collarbone, next to a weird red wolf head shaped mark. "The GMG is short for the Grand Magic Games, where 8 guilds compete to become number one. Fairy Tail has lost every single time—I had wondered why. Now, it seems Fairy Tail's 'strongest team' has come back, so Fairy Tail may have a chance. With us, of course." Kaito finished with a condescending smirk, getting the mark on his right shoulder.

I immediately flared up—"AWESOME! Fairy Tail will crush everyone this year!" This was accompanied with cheers from half the guild—Gramps' was the loudest—the other half seemed to be fed up with losing and didn't want to be humiliated anymore.

"NO! I refuse to enter Fairy Tail this year!"

"I'm the master here! We are participating for the number one title!" Gramps shot back at Macao.

"I've been humiliated one too many times! WE ARE NOT GOING!"

"You have no authority to decide that anymore, Dad! You are not Master anymore!" Surprisingly, Romeo was the one who yelled.

"I'm saying this as a member of the guild!"

"Let's do it! We've GOT to do this!"

"NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY! I ABSOLUTELY disapprove of this! We decided NEVER to go again!"

Gramps forgotten, the guild watched father and son enter a shouting match. For once, I decided not to join in with the shouting. Not yet, anyways.

"EVERYONE FOR NOT PARTICIPATING! RAISE YOUR HANDS!"

Macao, Wakaba, Nab, Warren, Bisca, Alzack, and various other guild members raised their hands.

"Come on, Dad! We have the Tenrou team here with us! We CANT lose!"

Max stepped in. "The Tenrou team has seven years of blank time..."

I snorted. "We'll be fine!"

Erza, however, had other thoughts. "We must train and bring Fairy Tail back up to the best."

By this time the father-son dispute had settled down a bit. Romeo now faced Gramps, and slyly said "The winner of the GMG gets 30,000,000 Jewels!"

Gramps immediately jumped up and roared, "WE'RE GOING!"

The rest of the guild sweat dropped.

Facing Erza, Gramps said "Let's all go to the beach for strict training! We're going to win the Jew—ahem, I mean the GMG!"

"Are we really going to try?" Questioned Bisca.

"It couldn't hurt, I guess..." Alzack allowed.

"We've already decided that we're going, so let's skip all the whining and use less chitchat! Let's go!" Gramps cheered.

The resounding roar that followed was heard all over Magnolia.

* * *

Third Person POV

For the next three months, Fairy Tail trained vigorously at the beach (played a lot too, of course). The GMG teams had already been decided; Team A consisted of Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Kaito, while Team B was made up of Mirajane, Laxus, Gajeel, and Yuki. The reserves were Elfman for Team A, and Juvia for Team B. Team B was incomplete, but one day they found their last participant...in the form of a pigeon.

"Eh...what's this?" Erza noticed a small letter tied to the pigeon and untied it.

"To Fairy Tail...come to the suspension bridge deep in the west woods." Team Natsu, Levy, Wendy, Juvia, Yuki, and Kaito looked at each other. Simultaneously, they all decided to go.

"No one's here!" Natsu called, while cracking his knuckles. He was on edge for an ambush, as he was certain it was a set up.

"And the suspension bridge is broken too, so we can't say that they wanted us to meet on the other side...!" Levy trailed off in surprise, as the bridge began fixing itself.

"This is...this has to be a trap," Gray eyes the bridge suspiciously.

"I don't know who it could be, but let's go for it!" Natsu was surprisingly serious as he sprinted across the bridge.

As soon as they crossed the bridge, they saw three hooded figures approaching them.

"There are people here! Be on your guard!" Whispered Juvia urgently.

The three stopped in front of the Fairies. "Thank you for coming. Fairy Tail..."

The three lowered their hoods to reveal... Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy?!

"Jellal..." Erza was shell-shocked at the fact that Jellal was here—with two members of Grimiore Heart accompanying him no less!

"You haven't changed a bit, Erza," Jellal smiled. "I'm sure you've heard of my jailbreak?"

"Yeah..." She had actually overheard it from Bisca and Alzack, who was discussing it in the corner of the guild.

"Though...to be honest...I hadn't planned breaking out."

Ultear smirked. "We broke him out."

Meredy shook her head. "No, no! I didn't do anything!"

"Meredy...!"

She shot a smile at Juvia. "It's been a while!"

Yuki and Kaito growled. "Aren't you two Grimiore Heart members? The guild that tried capturing Zeref?"

"Wait...that would mean that they are our enemies...isn't that right?" Gray directed his question at Ultear.

She sighed, looking at the ground. "That's right. The sins that I have committed in my life are many...even if I spent the rest of my life atoning for them, it wouldn't be enough. That's why I've decided to try to save as many people I can. For example, Jellal."

Erza jolted and stood straight as a rod. "Jellal...your...memories?"

"It's all there. Every last detail. I remembered 6 years ago while sitting in my cell...I had gotten the death penalty, and I thought I was going to die...until Ultear broke me out. Erza...I...don't know what I'm supposed to say..."

Wendy, feeling sorry for Jellal, asked "So, does that mean you've found a reason to live now?"

He smiled forlornly. "It's not as nice as that. We've formed an independent guild. Crime Sorcière."

"A witch's crimes..." Levy translated softly.

"What's an independent guild?" Happy piped up.

"It's a guild that isn't under the Federation of Guilds, he-cat," Snapped Charla irritably.

"I've heard of Crime Sorcière," Kaito mused. "They had been destroying dark guilds around Fiore. Ironic that all the members have been dark mages once,"

Ultear sighed. "Our guild is here to drive away the evil that has been brought here by Zeref and the dark guilds..."

"...so that never again will dark mages like us be born." Jellal finished.

"WOAHH! Cool!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Wait, so why not form an official guild?" Gray asked, confused.

Jellal sweat dropped. "Because I'm a fugitive..."

"...and because we're former Grimiore Heart members." Meredy finished. "Besides, official guilds are prohibited from going after dark guilds. Our guild is fine the way it is."

"So...the reason why we summoned you here wasn't to chitchat. We heard that you guys were participating in the GMG?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"We can't get near the event grounds, so we need to ask you a favor." Ultear smiled.

"Eh? Do you want us to sign one of you up?" Asked Natsu.

"We could do that," Erza allowed, even though inside she was jumping for joy.

Jellal explained further for Ultear. "Every year, we sensed a strange magical force...we want to identify that force."

"...this is all of Fiore's Guilds...surely there has to be one or two questionable mages," Yuki said.

"We thought that too at first," Jellal said grimly. "But this force...it feels like Zeref."

Eyes widened.

"Zeref..." Natsu breathed.

Jellal nodded sadly. "We want to find the source of the force. It may lead us to Zeref."

"So please, search for this force during the GMG for us." Meredy smiled.

Erza nodded adamantly. "We'll help you."

"Are you sure, Erza? I feel uneasy about searching for a magical force that feels like Zeref..." Gray added skeptically.

"I thought you might say that, so I can give you guys compensation." Ultear said.

"FOOD MONEY!" Natsu and Happy cheered.

Ultear sweat dropped. "No, but with my improved Time Arc, I can raise your magic levels for you."

Yuki and Kaito jolted. They looked at each other, eyes wide. They had thought that the Time Elder was the only one who could unlock Second Origin, but...

They scowled. It was probably a deputy learned thing.

The others were completely bewildered. They had never heard of this kind of thing. "Eh?"

"It's—"

Kaito cut Ultear off. "Second Origin."

Ultear's head snapped towards them. "How—"

Yuki sighed. "It's part of our magic...the magic that we haven't told you guys about yet."

"What? You are a Wind Mage and Kaito is a Lightning Mage. What do you mean that you guys haven't told us about your magic yet?" Levy asked.

Yuki shook his head. "We'll tell you guys later, but for now, Second Origin. Everyone has a magic container that determines the limits of their magical power. When it is depleted, usually you need to wait for the Ethernano to fill your container back up. What most people don't know is that there is a second magic container that isn't normally used. That is Second Origin."

"Opening Second Origin will boost our magic more than any training we have done so far, and we have done a lot of training." Kaito smirked.

"YEAAAAAH!" Everyone cheered.

Ultear chucked darkly, eyes flashing. "But you'll have to endure pain worse than your wildest imaginations."

Everyone but Natsu inched away from Ultear, terrified.

Natsu, on the other hand, engulfed Ultear in a hug.

"I DONT CARE I DONT CARE! HOW CAN I THANK YOU?! YOU'RE STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A REAL WOMAN!"

Ultear sweat dropped. "I AM a woman...can you let go now?"

* * *

Natsu, Yuki, and Kaito volunteered to undergo Second Origin unlocking first. Now, the area was filled with pained screams as the three thrashed and spasmed on the ground.

Everyone stared at the trio, horrified. "Is—Is that what we have to go through?" Wendy asked, shaking like a leaf. The Exceeds had already given up trying to convice everyone not to go through with this.

Ultear smiled challengingly. "Come on...it's hard to bring out someone's inner potential."

"Exactly how much does this hurt?" Gray asked tentatively, not wanting to know the answer anyways.

Meredy popped up from behind him. "Wanna use a Sense Link to find out?"

Gray yelped and leaped away from Meredy. "HELL NO!"

Levy looked at the trio again and flinched. "Do—Do we really have to go through T-THAT?"

Wendy sniffled. "I wanna cry..."

Gray looked around. "Where is Erza?"

"She just left with Jellal," Happy answered, pointing down the path.

"EH?! JUST THE TWO OF THEM ALONE?!" Juvia pounced on Gray and dragged him away. "Juvia wants that too!"

"You want WHAT?!"

* * *

Erza's POV

I studied Jellal as he looked out to sea. The winds on the cliff whipped our clothes around, and I belatedly noticed that it was JUST THE TWO OF US...Mirajane has seriously influenced my mind.

I sighed. "You said you got all of your memories back? Jellal."

"Yes."

"Which means, the thing about Simon..." I trailed off, not wanting to push him if he didn't want to answer. He did anyways.

"...I killed him."

"What...about Nirvana?"

"I remember that too. It's odd remembering what I did when I had amnesia."

I tentatively asked the question I had pulled him away for... "Can I still treat you the same way as before?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "I would be glad if you did...but if this is about Simon...I understand if you don't want anything to do with me."

He was always so selfless; too selfless, and never gave any thought to his own feelings. I smiled internally, and shook my head. He was an idiot sometimes, but I loved that about him.

How could he think that I would just leave him, after he apologized so many times I couldn't keep track anymore, after he created a guild centered around atoning for his sins, after everything that he had ever done for me, after giving me my name. Erza Scarlet. And I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't love him for who he was.

"I've prepared myself for death if you want to seek revenge for Simon."

Baka! I wanted to yell at him, and smack him until he woke up. Why-couldn't-he-stop-playing-martyr?!

Instead, all I said was "Do you think Simon would want me to do that?"

After a short silence, I said "Setting up your own guild to eliminate all the dark guilds is something you did to redeem yourself from your sins. Will you see through it?"

"...to be honest, I'm not so sure."

I gaped at him, completely astonished. He had sunken so low into depression that he wasn't even sure about THAT anymore? "What did you say?!"

He wouldn't look at me. "I was trying to redeem myself by creating Crime Sorcière. But now...I realize that nothing I do can make up for the things I did in the Tower of Heaven." He laughed self-deprecatingly. "If that's so, what the hell am I doing all this for? No matter how hard I try, I still can't find an answer. ...Perhaps...I'd be better off dead."

I had gotten increasingly angrier as I listen to him pick himself apart like a jigsaw puzzle, and his last words made me snap. Before I realized what I was doing, I stood in front of him and smacked him as hard as I could.

"Nonsense! COWARD!" I screamed at him, trying to get him to react.

"I'm not as strong as you are..."

"So you're going to stop living because you're not strong enough? Besides, that isn't true! LIVING IS A SIGN OF STRENGTH!" I sucked in a breath. "YOU'RE NOT THE SAME JELLAL AS BEFORE! YOU'RE NOT THE JELLAL WHO STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE!"

"Maybe you're right."

My eyes flashed. Why was he just taking it? "You jerk!" I grabbed him by the front of his cloak, but my jerky movement tipped me off balance, and I knocked Jellal off the rock he was sitting on. I held on tightly as we both rolled down the hill. When we reached the bottom of the slope, Jellal was on top of me, his face inches away. I was too shocked to do anything but stare at his face, which was equally shocked.

"You're always right." He breathed softly.

His face got closer.

"No, that's not true. I tried really hard to stay alive no matter how clumsy I was...that's all..."

Closer.

His face saddened as he looked at me. "Erza...I don't think we can see each other anymore..."

He agonizingly brought his face closer until our noses were almost touching. We stayed like that for a few seconds, and I could see the flicker in his eyes and knew he was going to pull away—

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, pulling myself up in the process and smashed my lips to his before he could pull away.

I heard him gasp as our lips connected, and for a second he was stiff a a board. A split second later his hands tentatively ran through my hair, his mouth moving softly in sync with mine, and we stayed like that for a few more seconds, telling the other everything we couldn't express in words.

Don't go. My hands slipped into his hair. Everything will be all right. One of his arms looped around my waist, hugging me to him. I could never hate you. We broke apart, gasping for breath, faces glowing like the setting sun behind us.

He stared at me, like he had never seen me before. I took the chance, and bravely pulled his forehead to mine.

"I love you."

He fell backwards, completely shocked. I could tell that that was the last thing he expected me to say. My heart strings pulled as he stared at me disbelievingly. I would bet my Sakura Fairy Armor that this was the first time anyone had said that to him, friend or otherwise, and it HURT.

I repeated myself. "I love you."

And I did. I loved his cobalt blue hair, I loved his intricate eye tattoo, I loved the way he smiled, I loved the way he laughed, I loved everything about him. All his insecurities, faults, and secrets meant nothing to me. They were just something else that made him Jellal. And he should know that.

I repeated it, over and over again, softly into his ear, in his hair, until he finally believed me. And when I pulled away, his four words sent me flying.

"I love you too."

* * *

Third Person POV

When Jellal and Erza came back, hands linked and smiling like there was no tomorrow, Meredy immediately jumped on Jellal.

"KAMI YOU DID IT!"

Ultear smiled and heaved out a sigh. "Finally! If you hadn't done it today I would've locked you two in a room until you confessed!"

The couple's faces burned in embarrassment.

"EH?! JELLAL AND ERZA CONFESSED?! Juvia wants Gray-sama to confess too!" She drifted off into her own little dreamland, her eyes turning into hearts.

"NANI?!"

Erza walked up to Ultear. "Where is everyone else?"

"Oh, they were too tired after Second Origin, so we let them sleep over there." Ultear gestured over her shoulder to a small hut.

"So." Ultear's face broke out in a devious smile. "Juvia! Gray! Erza! Shall we begin?"

The next day, everyone but Erza woke up sore and stiff, not wanting to move a muscle. Crime Sorcière, though, had other plans.

"Let's go," Ultear tugged her hood back over her head. "We can't stay in one place for long."

"If you find anything about the magical force, contact us by carrier," Meredy told Erza.

"Of course."

Jellal leaned over and kissed Erza on the cheek. "Hope we meet again."

"Goodbye!"

"Say hi to everyone else for me. Oh, and take care of Gray!"

? POV

I watched Crime Sorcière leave from the shelter of the treetops. I took out a Communications Lacrima, and said "Tell him everything is going to plan."

The malicious laughter that erupted from the Lacrima echoed around the forest.

* * *

**AN: DUN DUN DUN! Who is the mysterious person in the trees? It's someone you would never suspect! (At least not **_**now…) **_**…gods, I'm just dishing out cliffhangers left and right, huh? ;P Oh, how's you like my attempt on JerZa fluff? I had to rewrite that scene **_**at least **_**15 times…constructive criticism is HIGHLY APPRECIATED! **

**Ja ne, **

**Kit Kat**


	12. Padfoot, Moony, and the Lost Keys

Ch 11: Padfoot, Moony, and the Lost Keys

**DISCLAIMER: DO I REALLY HAVE TO DO THIS ANYMORE? SERIOUSLY, I FIND IT HIGHLY DOUBTFUL THAT EITHER JK ROWLING OR HIRO MASHIMA WOULD BE SITTING HERE MAKING A **_**FANFICTION**_** ABOUT THEIR CHARACTERS AND MESS EVERYTHING UP.**

**AN: And…yeah. WAIT, WAIT, HOLD THE PHONE, I HAVE ANSWERS. PEACE. I blame the block of writers and the fact that my friend gave me Blood of Olympus to squeal over! Also, because of said book, I am now going to change **_**a lot**_** of my predetermined plot…yeah. MORE SUSPENSE! MORE CLIFFHANGERS! MORE 'THIS HAPPENED-NOPE! IT WAS ACTUALLY THIS-GOT YOU AGAIN!' KIND OF WRITING! MWAHAHAHAHA! **

…**so, I'm guessing you all want to know exactly WHY Sirius and Remus are pleasantly alive? No worries, that will all be explained BUT NOT IN THIS FANFICTION! After Wolf in Me is done, I will be doing a Hikari backstory kind of fanfic, and you will see just how Siri and Remmy have survived the hands of Death! (set his robe on fire…cough) BUT, I know you guys are impatient for the real chapter, and my only warning is-LOTS OF EXPLAINY STUFF AND SPIRITS. Oh, and I couldn't help but put in those little Greek Mythology tidbits…oh, I can't wait until I write the part when Scorpio and HE meets again…that is going to be GOOD! XD**

_Recap:_

_The malicious laughter that erupted from the Lacrima echoed around the forest._

* * *

Hikari's POV

I was in shock, staring at Sirius and Remus, who were in turn staring at everyone behind me. I coughed, and asked again "How did you guys get here?"

"Er...so...a girl with black hair and a dark blue dress stepped out of a giant door that just appeared front of us. She then started yelling something about how I wasn't back home, and dragged me to the door. Sirius saw me being dragged and only managed to grab me before we came through...and she left us here to find our 'leader'."

Oh. So _that's_ how they got here.

"Hmm...Amaya probably mistook you for a Wolf Slayer...you do smell like us, being a werewolf," I muttered to myself.

Meanwhile, Sirius was acquainting himself with everyone else. He had also turned into Padfoot for some reason, and everyone jumped back, startled. I laughed. It was so unbelievably Sirius, and a pang of sadness flashed behind my eyes as I thought of everyone else I had left behind.

"Oi, Hikari," Sting called. "Mind introducing us?"

I flushed. Right. I had completely forgotten. "Alright, meet Sirius Black, aka Padfoot, and Remus Lupin, aka Moony. Watch out for Siri though, he has fleas,"

Sirius gasped dramatically, a delicate hand resting on his forehead as if he was feeling faint, and—_OH KAMI NO_—the dreaded kicked puppy look. "I do not have fleas!" He wailed. "Moony, tell them I don't have fleas."

Remus just looked amused. "Sorry Sirius, but I'm siding with Hikari on this one—I'm not forgetting that scene in Hogsmeade!"

Sirius pouted.

I gestured to everyone else. "Paddy, Moony, this is Lucy Heartfilia, my little sister, Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Minerva Orlando, Yukino Aguria, Rufus Lore, and Orga Nanagear."

Each one waved as I pointed to them.

"May I ask what your magic is?" Rufus inquired politely.

"Whaddya mean, what magic? We're wizards!" Sirius responded, confused. I facepalmed.

"Different world guys? Hello?" I sighed as everyone looked at me funny. "Okay. They—" I pointed to the Wizarding Duo "Are from a place called Britain, which is in another world. This—" I pointed to the ground "Is the Lunar Lands, which is another world. They—" I pointed at the Sabers "Are from a place called Earthland. All different worlds, all different magics." Everyone's mouth opened in understanding.

I sighed. Guess I'll have to be storyteller, since I'm the only one who's been in both worlds.

"Alright, everyone sit down. I guess it's story time, since none of you know much about the others. Earthland is a place where Muggles—" "WHAT?!" All the Sabers burst into laughter. "W—What are Muggles?!" Sting managed to choke out. "People who can't use magic—anyways." I waited for them to calm down, but giggles still erupted every now and then. "Earthland is a place where people with no magic and the ones who do can live in harmony. The civilians post requests for jobs, and pay the mages who do them. The job requests go to places called guilds, which are havens for groups of mages. Technically, it's just like a Hogwarts spanning the entire world and the House system plus 100 more houses." Before anyone could give me a weird look, I said "I'll explain the House system and Hogwarts when I get there. In Earthland, anyone with a magic container inside of them can learn a specified type of magic, like Water Magic, which is control and conjuration of water. It is possible to have more than one type of magic, it's just extremely hard." Remus and Sirius nodded, leaning back on their elbows for me to explain Magical Britain. "Magical Britain is a place where wizards and Muggles live separately, as wizards are afraid of being captured to do their work, or even being hunted down." "That's horrible!" Yukino gasped, horrified. I nodded grimly. "That's why the wizard have made something called the Statue of Secrecy, which prevents them from using magic in front of Muggles. Don't worry," I held up a hand to silence Rufus. "They had thought of the job idea, like you guys use, but it ended in witch burnings..." Everyone winced. "Well, I digress. Wizards have magical schools instead of learning from separate teachers, since there simply aren't enough wizards to privately teach every wizard, and they don't form guilds. There, hundreds of students go to learn a wide variety of magic, not just one specific type of magic. So, everyone knows Water magic, and Fire magic, and so on. Though the magic is generalized, so you guys would still be able to beat them in your area. Now, Hogwarts is one of those magical schools. The best in Britain, actually. There, you are sorted into four different Houses, depending on what your personality is. Gryffindor takes in the brave and noble, Slytherin is for the ambitious and cunning, Ravenclaw houses the smart and quick-witted, and Hufflepuff is for the loyal and hardworking. It's like our guilds, except we don't get to choose what House you're in. A magical Sorting Hat does. I was in Gryffindor, before you ask. Any questions?" I ended, looking around. Everyone shook their heads. "Well, I think it's about time to get out of here, don't y—Aya!"

Kairi Amaya stood a few feet in front of me, her black hair windswept from how fast she ran. Her dyed white streak stood out proudly. Her gray eyes were shining, and her tattooed purple starburst on her cheek was a stark contrast to her pale skin. Her black wolf head shaped mark declared her as a ShadowClan wolf. She wore her signature outfit—a silver sash tied around her head like a headband, a loose black silk scarf, her black star ring on her right hand second finger, a dark blue dress that went a little past the knees dotted with artfully placed black and white swirls, a white bow around the waist, and black flats.

"Hey Kari-chan! Whatcha doin'? Hey, who are these people? Didn't I catch them in Earthland? Only deputies are allowed!"

I sighed. Guess I'll have to introduce everyone and explain everything—again.

* * *

"Ohhh! That's why you smelled like a Wolf Slayer—gomenasai!"

Remus held his hands up, shaking his head. "No hard feelings, right?"

Aya nodded, smiling brightly. "Yeah! Oh, Lucy! I remember why I wanted to find you now!" She grabbed 8 Keys from her...scarf. I sweat dropped. That was so like Aya...

I looked closer at the Keys, and my eyes widened. Grabbing them all, I ignored Aya's indignant yelp as I demanded "_Where did you find these?!_"

Aya shrugged. "I was on a mission, and my opponent happened to be a Celestial Mage! So I beat him and took his keys! He treated them like trash, so I took him out like one." She scowled.

"What are so special about those keys?" Sirius asked.

"Those are what the Celestial Mages use, for summoning Spirits into this world! And we have two of the strongest Celestial Mages in all of Fiore!" Sting boasted, and Lucy flushed. Yes! Blackmail!

Lucy came up behind me, wondering what kind of Keys made me go insane like that. Her eyes widened as well. "_THAT IS NOT WHAT I THINK IT IS, IS IT?! NO WAY IN ALL NINE GATES OF TARTARUS! HOW DID YOU BEAT HIM?!_"

Aya shrugged again. "He was an amateur; the only reason he was classified as S-Class was because of his Keys."

Now everyone came up, curious. Yukino's mouth fell open with a pop. "T-Those are..._Red Keys, Black Keys, and Crystal Keys?!_"

Rufus examined them. "Yukino, you have a Black Key, also. What is so different from these?"

"Black Keys are Lost Keys, Keys that have become the the things of legends! And there are TWO of them!" Yukino was ecstatic.

Lucy shook her head. "No, there are three Black Keys. The Red Key is a Black Key. I recognize it because of that six-point star mark on the key end there—that also means it has been cleared, and it is no longer banished from the stars."

"Huh, it seems like you both are Celestial Mages! Since there are 8 Keys, you can just split them!" Aya grinned, snatched the Keys away, split them, and gave them back. Just then, Aya pulled out a Communications Lacrima and blinked. "Gomen, but I have to report to Shadowstar now! Ja ne!"

We all waved goodbye as she took on Form Three and sped off into the forest.

"Let's go to the meadow, I have a feeling some of these Spirits will be gigantic." With that, we walked out of the forest, buzzing with excitement.

* * *

Lucy's POV

We were back in the meadow, with me in the middle as I grasped a Black Key in my hand. The handle of the key was that of a roaring Dragon's head, teeth bared and silver stripes running down its head. There were painted flames running up and down the key shaft. I grinned. "Oi, Rufus! Make sure to remember all of our Spirits!" I could tell he was slightly confused, but nodded anyways.

I took my stance, and intoned "I am the one who connects the road to the Spirit World! Thou shall hear my calling and pass through the gate! Open, Gate of the Dragon, Draco!"

Light pooled around me, and with a roar of blue fire Draco stepped through. Royal blue in color, he was streaked with silver stripes and swirls, and his red eyes were narrowed on me. Sharp black spines trailed from the top of his neck to the tip of his tail. His wings were a mesmerizing combination of blues and purples, and when he shifted his royal blue scales caught the sunlight and seemed to catch on fire. There were three black spiral horns atop his head, and his tail was armed with a multitude of meter-long spikes. Draco grinned down at me, flashing his fangs. I could hear everyone gasping behind me, and Rufus memorized the Dragon.

"Well well! A little girl shall be my new Master! Hello there," Draco rumbled, bending down to my height.

I laughed. "No no, it's just Lucy, please! It's great having a new friend!"

Draco looked surprised for a moment, and then let out an amused roar. "You are very different...Lucy."

Taking out my notebook, I sat down and asked "When are you available for summoning?"

"I am available five times a month. This time will not count. In my human form, I am available two times every day, with the exception of weekends."

I gasped. "You have a human form? Can you show it to me?"

"Certainly." Draco glowed golden for a second, and when the light died down a blue haired man stood there. Sporting a black aviator's jacket, black shirt, ripped jeans, spiked combat boots, chains, scars, silver tattoos and an absolutely feral smile, his abnormally long canines showing through, Draco looked absolutely dangerous.

"In this form, I have Dragon Slayer Magic, though no Dragon Slayer can match my strength." He fingered a sword that was definitely NOT there a few seconds ago.

"Arigato, Draco! You can go back now!" I smiled, ecstatic.

With a poof of blue flames Draco went back to the Spirit World. I fell down, panting slightly. Draco had taken up a huge chunk of my magic, and I still had three keys to go!

"Onee-chan, can you refill my magic please?" Laughing, Hikari came over. One Healing Sonata later and I was back on my feet, this time holding the Black-Key-turned-Red-Key.

This one was shaped like a flame, the teeth of the key pitch-black. The handle was adorned with a head of a bird emerging from the flames, and I sighed. This one would probably take just as much magic. Even with Second Origin, summoning these Spirits was no easy task!

I chanted the incantation again, this time ending with "Open, Gate of the Phoenix, Forea!"

Forea appeared in a shower of flames, circling above my head. Her body was pure flame, red and orange and gold and blue, her tail and beak catching the light and lighting up gold. Her wings were the most vibrant reds, oranges, and pinks, overlapping each other and rippling like a sunset reflecting off of a crystal-clear pool. Her beady black eyes swept through the clearing, and she landed with a shake of her silver and golden plume, her head held up high, practically oozing a sense of royalty.

She bowed, her plume brushing the ground. "Master. I am at your beck and call."

"Oh, don't call me Master! Call me Lucy!" I could tell she was uncomfortable with that, so I said "Lucy-sama is fine too! I hope we can be friends!"

"I would be honored to be your friend, Mas—Lucy-sama. I am available anytime except for the second week in December, June, and January. Those are my Burning Days."

"Great!" I exclaimed. "Can you tell me about any abilities or powers that I should be notified about?"

Forea bowed her head. "One thing...I can bring one person back alive every year. This is what I was banished for, as I brought back Bluenote."

"That's completely unfair! It wasn't your fault! It wasn't like you could disobey your previous owner!" I yelled indignantly. It was like Loke all over again! "I'm glad you're cleared now, Forea. You can go back now," I said kindly.

She nodded, and disappeared in a burst of flame. I felt a bit woozy, so Forea didn't need as much magic as Draco did. That was a relief!

I pulled out my next Key, and grinned. I always wanted one of these, and I didn't know it was a Crystal Key! I had been searching for it among the Sliver Keys.

The handle was of a horse's head, and wings were spread out on either side of the handle. The shaft was decorated with ribbons of gold that wrapped around the teeth of the key.

I grinned again, swiping it through the air. "Open, Gate of the Winged Horse, Pegasus!"

A flash of golden light later, a winged horse stood proudly in front of me. His blinding white pelt was threaded through with almost invisible golden strands, and his mane was streaked with silver. His hooves were pure gold, and his sky-blue eyes were wild. His wings were spread, the feathers soft shades of blue, white, tan, and purple, each edged with gold and softly shimmering in the sunlight. He reared back, seeming to taste the sunlight.

"Finally back out! I thought I would be forever cooped up in that stupid cage of his!" Pegasus whinnied in triumph. "Oh, hello, Master! What can I do for you?"

I barely stopped myself from squealing. "Hello, Pegasus! Please call me Lucy, I'd like to be friends! When are you available for summoning?"

He grinned. "So nice! Arigato, Lucy! I'm available anytime except for winter!"

I nodded, penning it down in my book. "Alright, anything else of worth you wanted to tell me?"

"I can teleport you anywhere, as long as it is still in the same world and you know where it is! Even how it looked like would be fine!"

"That's amazing! Arigato, Pegasus, you can go now."

He stepped back, melting into the sunlight, and disappeared.

I looked back to the others. "Last one! And this one is really ironic,"

They all looked up in curiosity, and Sting flashed me a thumbs up.

I thumbed the handle of the Crystal Key, which was a picture of a full moon. A shadow of a howling wolf was was pressed on top of the moon, and sharp canines replaced the teeth of the key.

"Open, Gate of the Wolf, Lupa!"

A brilliant flash of silver summoned a wolf, regal and imposing. Her head was pure black, softening to a silver as it reached her tail. Her eyes were obsidian, and she seemed to shift in and out of the slight shadows in the clearing. Her claws and canines were pure gold, contrasting sharply with her fur.

She smiled. "Master, it seems like you and I are...alike."

I laughed. "We are, so don't call me Master, call me Lucy! I want to be friends!"

"Of course then...Lucy. I am available everyday afternoon."

"Alright! Anything special you want to tell me?" I was curious to know if she had anything I didn't, or if we were the same.

"My stealth magic makes me completely invisible to everything except you and your allies, Lucy."

My mouth fell open. "Wow! My stealth magic is noticeable since I still have an outline...arigato, Lupa! You can go now."

Lupa nodded, and proofed away in a shower of silver sparks.

I fell to the ground, drained. The last two felt like Golden Keys, and Crystal Keys were supposed to be only a little bit stronger than Silver Keys! I guess we got lucky.

Everyone came over, excitement etched on their faces.

"WOW! Draco, Forea, Pegasus, AND Lupa! Your Keys are so strong!" Yukino exclaimed.

"They are! I can't believe you had a Dragon!" Sting yelled.

"Yes, you were correct in telling me to memorize them, Lucy. Your Spirits are of great power." Rufus smiled down at me.

"With these, we can't possibly lose the GMG! Great!" Orga roared, punching the air.

"You've gotten a lot stronger since we were little, Lucy!" Min-chan cheered.

Rogue flashed me a smile. "Great job, Lucy."

"I don't know what you just did, but anyone who can just conjure a Dragon, Phoenix, Pegasus, and wolf is awesome in my books!" Sirius beamed. "Though, next time conjuring a dog would be awesome too!"

Remus sighed, shaking his head but smiling slightly. "Sirius is right. You are extremely powerful to perform a feat like that, and even though I don't understand your world's magic, I can see that a lesser wizard wouldn't have been able to do it."

I blushed. "A-Arigato, but we haven't seen Yukino's new Keys yet! You never know!" I tried to get up, but all I accomplished was falling on my back. "Um...help, anyone?"

Min-chan started to extend a hand, but Sting got there first and yanked me up. Hard.

He miscalculated the force to bring me up, though, because I crashed into him. Since I was drained of magic, my legs wouldn't support me, and I ended up on the ground again, on top of Sting.

Both of our faces went crimson, and I quickly rolled off of him, my heart pounding a mile a minute.

Wh-Why do I feel like I can't breathe?

Sting scrambled up, still blushing hard, and stammered "G-Gomenasai, L-Lucy! I-I pulled too hard—"

"I-It's fine," I mumbled, not looking at his face. For some reason, my face was still on fire.

Everyone else bar Hikari, Min-chan, Sirius, and Remus looked on in confusion. Hikari was grinning at me, eyes flickering between me and Sting. Sirius was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, causing me to turn redder. Remus was smiling at Sting, and mumbling something under his breath. I picked up on the words "smooth", "Prongs", and "idiot". Min-chan, however, was glaring at Sting.

After a minute of this, nee-chan sighed, seeming to give up on something, pulled out her violin, and healed me again. "All right Yukino, your turn!"

But the glint in her eyes as she looked at me told me that we would be having a little talk soon.

* * *

I looked a bit apprehensively at the Black Key that Yukino clutched in her hand. The handle was dark purple, split into five sections that wrapped around each other and formed a circle. Scales ran down the shaft of the Key, and the teeth of the Key was razor-sharp. I knew what Spirit it was, and was genuinely scared. Someone could wreak serious havoc with him!

"I am the one who connects the road to the Spirit World! Thou shall hear my calling and pass through the gate! Open, Gate of the Hydra, Ladon!"

A poof of poison later, the Hydra stood there, all five heads fixed on Yukino. He was dark purple, his scales swirled with forest green. Silver horns sat atop every head, and the middle head had a bright green and red ruff that flared out on either side. His long necks joined together to form the thick body, and his feet ended in sharp claws. His tail was wrapped around his body, the sharp spines hissing out...poison?! Ladon could be seriously dangerous. I wondered again how Aya defeated the Celestial Mage, even if he was an amateur. He had to have seen those spines, right?

"So, you're my new Master. Huh, you're a little thing!" Head #1 scoffed. **(AN: Ahem. Please ignore these if you haven't watched SnK/AoT-but this head just screams Auruo!)**

"Oi! Don't say that!" Head #2 reared back and head butted Head #1. "Hello, there! It's wonderful having a new Master!" **(So Petra!)**

Head #3 appraised Yukino. "Not bad. You are powerful for being able to summon me, Master."

"Oh wow! You're a girl!" Head #4 exclaimed. A split second later, he reared back and began to cry. "I'm so sorry! I hope I didn't hurt your feelings!"

"Tch." Was Head #5's only response, staring at Yukino from the corner of his eye. **(Kya! Levi Heichou!)**

Wow. I had no idea Ladon suffered from split-personality disorder...

Sting whistled, long and low. "Wow, that is one cool Spirit!"

"It certainly is powerful. Memorized."

"You guys are going to be stronger than me! That Ladon is something!" Orga exclaimed.

Min-chan just stared at Ladon. "I never knew Spirits could be this strong."

I laughed. "These are Black Keys, ones that have been turned into legend! You know, in Greek Mythology, Ladon guarded a tree of golden apples! But he was really guarding the Tree of Stars, where new stars and minor constellations are born!"

"Sugoī!" Sting yelled.

"So, the myth is wrong..." Remus mused.

"No! It's Remmy's worst nightmare! The books are wrong!" Sirius wailed, shaking Remus.

"Get off me!"

I looked at Hikari and Rogue, who were talking softly to each other. I could hear that nee-chan was explaining everything to Rogue, and I smiled. Those two were so cute together!

I looked back to Yukino, a smile still plastered on my face.

"A-Ano...Ladon...please call me Yukino! I-I hope we can be friends!" Yukino bowed.

Ever since I had shown Yukino my Spirits, she had wanted to treat them like how I did. This was the first contract she made that wasn't formal, and I could tell she was struggling with it.

All the heads bar #4 and #5 laughed, staring at Yukino. "You are very different, it seems. I am available ten times a month. This time will not count." Head #3 boomed.

"Arigato! I-Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Head #5 answered. "If we all stare at an enemy, he is paralyzed until someone hits him. That good enough?"

"Yes! Arigato, you may go now."

Ladon disappeared in a cloud of poison.

Yukino crumpled in a heap on the ground, obviously tired and drained of magic. We all came over.

She laughed tiredly. "T-That took a lot more magic than I expected! Could someone heal me, please?"

I took out my flute and played. As I did, Hikari asked "What's your next Key?"

Yukino pulled out a Crystal Key. The handle was a star, with a bow design in the middle. The teeth of the key had been replaced with an arrow tip, and the entire key was midnight blue.

"Oh! Him!" I squealed. "Lucky! C'mon guys, let's go back and watch!"

We retreated to the edge of the meadow, and I was literally jumping up and down in excitement. I LOVED his tragic myth as a girl, and couldn't wait to see him!

"Open, Gate of the Hunter, Orion!"

Orion appeared in a burst of golden light, tall and regal. He had tousled pitch black hair and swirling sea-green eyes. He was decked out in a toga and golden sandals, his longbow and quiver strapped to his back. Hundreds of arrows gleamed from inside the quiver, made of steel, iron, bronze, gold, and silver. His bow was made of stars, and there was no visible string. A bronze sword was strapped to his hip, and a golden shield was also strapped to his back. He was extremely muscular, and I remembered vaguely that he was the handsomest man in the world.

Yukino was gobsmacked at the sight in front of her, and after a few awkward seconds of silence she cleared her throat and spoke. Apparently Orion was respecting towards women too! He was like my dream guy, only he was real and a SPIRIT, I reminded myself.

"H-Hello, Orion! My name is Yukino, and I-I would like to be friends!"

Orion bowed, staying a respectful distance away. "Hello Lady Yukino, I await your call for assistance. I am available every day except for Friday, and never in the morning." He said smoothly.

"Hai! Do you have anything special you want to tell me?" Yukino asked, blushing over the fact that Orion called her Lady.

Orion nodded. "I, like Lupa, can become completely invisible with my stealth magic. I also have a giant form, though the magic drain will be great." He warned.

"Arigato Orion, you may leave now."

He stepped back and poofed away in a shower of golden sparks.

Min-chan shook her head, as if to clear it. "Well, that was an intriguing spirit. The first one that was a human, actually."

Sting scoffed. "I don't know what's the big deal about that guy! He looks like he's from ancient times or something."

Remus and Sirius smiled knowingly—about what?—but remained quiet.

Hikari looked at Sting as if he had just declared himself emperor of chickens. "What?! He's the Hunter of the Stars, and lover to the Huntress! His archery skills match that of Sagittarius, and he's the handsomest man in the world!" Hikari sighed dreamily. Rogue looked a bit irritated, for some reason, and shifted closer to nee-chan.

Yukino flashed a smile at us. "Okay, next key! These are Silver Keys, so they may not be as powerful as the last 6."

She held the key in front of her. The handle had a simple sword design stamped onto it.

"Open, Gate of the Sword, Kenji!"

There was a small poof of silver, and a floating sword appeared in front of Yukino. The blade was made from a mixture of gold, silver, and stardust, and the handle made of solid steel.

Apparently it spoke in Yukino's mind, because after a while of silence, she spun towards us. "Kenji can't talk, so he spoke in my mind! He says he's available anytime, and that if I hold him, he can download swordsmanship lessons into my mind! I'd still need practice, but I would be pretty good with a sword! Apparently he and my next Key are a pair..." Yukino trailed off, holding the last Key in front of her.

The last Silver Key had a shield design on the handle, and the handle itself was in the shape of a decagon.

"Open, Gate of the Shield, Shiruto!"

After a whirlwind of gold, Shiruto appeared. The shield was made of a combination of metals-gold, silver, bronze, and—was that a ring of diamond—titanium. There was a leather arm strap on the inside of the shield.

Shiruto couldn't speak either, so Yukino explained everything to us. "He's available every day, and he can block anything—even Archenemy, which is Kagura Mikazuchi's famous sword that can cut through anything. He can only guard against it five times though, but that's enough. He can also create a forcefield! Isn't that great?" Yukino exclaimed. "Oh, gomenasai! You two can go back now."

Kenji and Shiruto disappeared in a flash of silver and gold.

"It is!" I cheered, happy for Yukino. I was about to say something else when I was cut off by a choking noise behind me. I spun around, ready to defeat any monster behind us—and saw Remus, shaking and spasming as his face elongated into a...wolf's head?!

"Crap!" Hikari swore. "Sirius! Did he take his Wolfsbane today?"

Sirius paled. "He...no..."

Hikari swore again. "Everyone, run! Sirius and I will handle this!" She held up a hand to stop the arguments that everyone wanted to voice. "He's still Remus! I just need to subdue him—he'll attack anyone and anything right now! I'll explain everything later, go!"

I could see the acute panic in my nee-chan's eyes and I straightened. "Guys, let's leave this to Onee-chan and Sirius! Let's go!"

Reluctantly, everyone followed me out of the meadow towards RiverClan, and the pained howling rang in my ears.

* * *

**AN: YES! I **_**did**_** mention that it was the full moon a few chapters ago! And then I brought Moony in! Did any of you guys catch that? Yes, I know, I'm evil. *Bows* Now, I want to know your thoughts on the new Spirits! I think I brought them in believably, I was actually planning for them to just run into a Magic Shop and it just happened to have these keys-yeah, no. That sounds really stupid, now that I think about it. -_-; So, how'd Aya seem to you guys? Ya like her? Three more like her are going to be introduced-three more for every other Clan. Now, in this chapter I stressed on how **_**only deputies**_** were able to go to Earthland-now, there are two Wolf Slayers in Fairy Tail (that should have been easy to catch!), two Wolf Slayers in Sabertooth, you met Aya (yes, she's going to appear more later) and now **_**three more **_**are coming. There can only be a maximum of five Wolves in Earthland at one time-now there are **_**seven! **_**Which means-**_**two of them are traitors! **_**Leave your ideas in the reviews-I'd like to know if anyone gets it!**

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	13. Crocus

Ch 12: Crocus

**DISCLAIMER: YEAH, YEAH, YOU KNOW THE DRILL.**

**AN: I have discovered the woes of writing a fanfiction based on plot…SO MUCH RESEARCH!**

**Alright guys, I have a word for you to guess! It starts with 's', ends in 'l', and is the bane of my fanfiction's existence (if that even makes sense). Yup, it's school. I swear, Common Core is trying to drown me in projects and papers; I'm going insane! And that was before I remembered I have a bunch of loyal readers waiting patiently for my next chapter-I finished typing everything this morning ^3^;**

**So! In this chapter, we have a grand total of EIGHT POV SWITCHES! I hope you don't get whiplash… Also, many things will be explained, and the plot thickens! Hee hee, I swear I'm not trying to mentally kill you with feels…yet. XP**

_Recap:_

_Reluctantly, everyone followed me out of the meadow towards RiverClan, and the pained howling rang in my ears._

* * *

Hikari's POV

"REMUS! SNAP OUT OF IT!" I screamed, panicked. Since we were in the Wolvian Realms, his werewolf properties and senses would be multiplied off the charts! I didn't want to hurt him either...

"Sirius! Try and keep Remus occupied, I'll try and bind him!" I shouted, pulling out my violin.

He looked at me funny, but the pained howl from Remus snapped his attention back. "Alright Hikari, but I don't know how you'll subdue him..." He stated seriously before springing on top of the fully transformed Remus, morphing into Padfoot as they crashed into the ground, snarling.

I frantically tried to remember how to play Ensnaring Melody; I rarely used it in battle, since I finished my opponents quickly without having to restrain them conscious. Now, it was working against me, and I was panicking desperately.

Let's see, it starts in melodic C Minor, and the tempo is slow―

That's it!

Readying my bow, I shouted "Ensnaring Melody!" And began to play. The slow, minor key snake charmer song flowed from my instrument, and with the music came the music staffs and notes, blood-red, slowly winding its way towards Padfoot and Moony, who were locked in a ferocious battle. Well, not exactly a battle, as Padfoot seemed to only be keeping Moony occupied rather than trying to knock him out or subdue him. I could tell Moony was trying not to hurt Padfoot; the Wolvian Realms may sharpen his attributes and senses, but it also brought out his human mind.

Kami, go faster, go faster―CRAP!

"Padfoot! _OUT OF THE WAY!_"

The melody looped around Moony, tying him up and leaving him helpless on the floor like a Christmas turkey where Padfoot was just seconds ago.

"Thanks, Hikari," Sirius panted, and I could see major damage done to his abdomen and arms, the crimson blood dripping onto the grass. I immediately played a Healing Sonata, and we both looked at the werewolf on the ground.

I sighed. I guess we'll have to wait for morning to come...

"Thank you, Hikari," Remus said, one of my spare cloaks draped over his shoulders. He winced as his joints popped as he rolled his shoulders. Wordlessly, I passed him some joint medicine, which was very gladly appreciated.

"Don't thank me, thank Sirius. Without him, you'd probably be chasing me around the meadow! It took me a while to remember how to play the song, too."

"Exactly! Appreciate my efforts, Moony," Sirius preened, but I could tell that he was still worried.

"I thought that the gratitude would be redundant, Sirius. You've done this many times at Hogwarts already,"

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, I know, but don't go scaring me like that again, alright Moony?

Remus flashed Sirius a small smile. "I can try, but even so, you guys should be cautious around me. I almost killed you, Sirius," he ended glumly.

"Oi, I thought that Tonks pulled him out of this self-hate club?" I leveled a glare at Sirius.

"She did!" Sirius protested. Turning to face Remus, he said "You're not dangerous, Moony. Especially when you've taken Wolfsbane―you look like an overgrown mangy puppy!" At Remus' disbelieving look, he said "It's true! I even have the pictures! Anyways, that's not the point. The point is, you've got a furry little problem that makes you embrace your wild side every month. So what? I'm an escaped criminal from Azkaban of all places―" "Was," I interjected. "Right. Was. And Hikari here carries around four weapons at all times, and is prone to lopping people's heads off when you wake her up before she wants to―" "I'm really paranoid in the morning! You don't know how many times someone has sneaked up on me while sleeping! Besides, I haven't lopped off anyone's head...right?" I ended, unsure. I was pretty sure I didn't, but it never hurt to get assurance. Sirius simply grinned, and brushed off my question. "So you see, Moony, we all should be locked up―" "Sirius! Get to the point!" I ordered, laughing. How did he say all that with a straight face?

Sirius' impromptu speech did its job, though, as Remus chuckled. "I get it, I get it. Sorry about that, Hikari."

I smiled. "It's fine, Remmy! Let's just get to everyone else before I find that they started a Clan War; now that would be bad." Opening my trunk, I grabbed my Firebolt and gave it to Sirius. "You ride this, I'll carry Remus," I said, clipping my trunk chant back on my bracelet and transforming into my Form Three. Remus climbed on top of me, sitting comfortably, and we raced each other towards RiverClan.

* * *

"EH?! Remus is a werewolf?!" Lucy exclaimed, shocked.

"That is so cool!" Sting bounced up and down in childish excitement. Everyone else was too busy staring at Remus. Sirius shot a triumphant look at Remus, who smiled with embarrassment.

He ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "I am...I can only transform on the day of the full moon, which was yesterday. I have a potion that can stop me from killing anyone―I forgot to take it yesterday." He said sheepishly.

He was promptly bombarded with questions, from so many different people that my ears started to ring. "Er, guys? Our ears?"

Everyone sit back, embarrassed.

Sirius barked out his laughter. "See, Moony―you are so popular! Besides, everyone here can defend themselves―loosen up and live a little!"

Remus turned pink.

I cleared my throat. "That's exactly what we're going to do, Siri. Now, when we get back to Montrain, I'll need everyone to train for the next few days before the GMG. Lucy and Yukino especially―you guys have new Spirits that take up much more magic than your usual ones. You need to expand your magic container to the limits―we'll show Fairy Tail and the rest of Fiore not to mess with the Sabers!" Everyone cheered, and Orga stood to sing―he was quickly dragged down by a panicked Minerva. "I will not be participating in training for two days―I need to show Remus and Sirius around Fiore, make up a new magic to explain why they use sticks to cast, and fill them in on everything―that includes the Fairy Fiasco. Is that alright with you, Luce?" She nodded, and my blue-green eyes met her chocolate ones. I blinked in surprise when all that filled their depths was vengeful hatred. "It's fine with me, nee-chan,"

"Alright!" Sirius whooped. "Time to go and see the sights! This is SO much better than being stuck in Grimmauld Place!"

* * *

After sending everyone else back to Montrain City, Padfoot, Moony, and I traveled around all of Fiore with the express help of my trusty Firebolt and my wolf transformation. I had shown them everywhere I had gone―Hargeon Port, Magnolia City, Clover Town, Council Hall, the likes. I had also shown them the more 'interesting places'―Tenroujima Island (it had been a pain to discover that I had to Portal us in; I had no idea that without a Fairy Tail guild mark that the island constituted as a separate dimension, but it was completely worth it), the place where the Tower of Heaven once stood, Heartfilia Mansion (it was fun to watch Remmy and Paddy gawk openly, especially at the fact that I had been saving up my Jewels simply to repurchase the entire property), and even Crocus, though I only had them look at the city for a second before promptly turning the other way and telling them that they had to wait a few more days to explore. That had earned me a week-long prank of FLUFFY PINK CAT EARS AND A TAIL (Of all things, why a CAT? I'm a wolf, for Kami's sake!) not to mention that I couldn't even remove it myself, but it was worth it. We had also agreed to keep the fact that Remus and Sirius were from another dimension secret, and came up with Enchantment Magic to explain the need for wands and the extensive repertoire of magic they had.

True to my word, I told them about Lucy's 'fallout' with Team Natsu. I guess it was a good thing that we were in a forest, and not somewhere populated, as Sirius destroyed everything in sight for 2 miles. Remus was too tired after his transformation to do anything destructive, but he let his opinion be known through words that would make a Dark Guild Master flinch in fear.

When we got back, only a few days before the GMG started, everyone had apparently assigned themselves a 'Seven Day Training Camp of Hell' and pushed themselves so hard they were a limp pile of limbs on the ground.

I giggled, and flopped on the ground. "Hey, I had no idea that the ground was so comfortable! You guys are geniuses!" I flashed them a cheeky grin as they glared at me.

"Yeah, yeah," Sting grumbled, picking himself off the ground and immediately crumpling back, "I'm too tired. Wake me up...when the GMG starts.

"I agree with Sting for once," yawned Rogue. Sting shot him a playful glare.

"Don't bother waking us up, even Sabers have to sleep," Orga mumbled, looking like he could crash on a rock and it would all be the same to him. Yukino, Lucy, Min-chan, and Rufus were already asleep.

Of course, they hadn't known Sirius for 5 years, and they didn't know that if someone―or more than one―complained about something or ordered someone not to do something or other―Sirius would go out of his way to do it.

Grinning evilly, Sirius conjured a foghorn, and Remus and I immediately cast silencing spells around us.

He conjured some earmuffs, snapped them on, and blew the horn.

Sting, Yukino, and Min-chan, who had been at the top of the pile of people, were thrown bodily and send tumbling a few feet away as everyone else scrambled to their feet, their respective weapons out and wildly looking for danger. Lucy was rubbing her ears and glaring at Sirius, who was decidedly NOT looking innocent. He was too busy rolling on the ground laughing at the bewildered and bleary expressions on everyone else's faces to realize that he had given himself away. "Y-You guys s-should s-s-see your f-faces!"

The glares from everyone only served to make Sirius laugh harder. Remus let out a long-suffering sigh, and dragged Sirius away, his raucous laughter bouncing off the trees. I sweatdropped.

"Anyways, are you guys ready for the GMG? It's in two days!"

"E-Eh?! It's in two days?!" Yukino gasped.

I stifled my giggles with a cough. "Yeah, it is. You guys are so stupid!" I teased, poking Rogue, who was closest to me. "If we hadn't come back, you guys would've trained through the GMG!"

"Yeah...thanks." Rogue smiled.

My teasing face slowly morphed into into a smirk. "So, how about another training round? For old times' sake?"

"NANI?!"

* * *

Rogue's POV

"Urgh..."

Sting wobbled around, face green and puffed out like a chipmunk. He sat down dazedly, trying not to throw up.

I would've smirked if I was feeling any better. I wasn't. I simply kept my face stoic―but I had developed a slight sheen of sweat on my forehead, and I was decidedly several shades paler than normal. Fro patted me softly, and I managed to smile at her. Lector was over with Sting, fretting over him again.

Sirius was laughing hysterically a few seats over, and Remus gave us a sympathetic look before smacking Sirius upside the head and settling behind a book. I guess I should be glad that we had our own train car, since we were the GMG participants―if we didn't, we'd definitely be getting a fair share of weird looks. Rufus and Orga were simply looking out of the window―they were used to this happening. Hikari was looking through her jacket pockets―which were charmed to hold much more than it seemed, since she had reached in all the way up to her elbow. She smiled apologetically. "Gomen, Shadow, Nova, but could you guys wait a little longer? I need to find the Troia pills..."

"H-Hurry―up, Hikari," Sting managed to groan out. I started to nod emphatically, but stopped when an acrid taste filled the back of my throat.

Lucy giggled from where she was situated next to Sting. She took Sting's head gently and set his head on her...lap. Sting flushed a brilliant shade of vermillion. Sirius and Orga gawked at Lucy, and Rufus raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing with Sting-kun?" Lector demanded.

"Natsu would also get motion sickness, and this seemed to help him...are you feeling better, Sting?" Lucy asked.

Sting managed to nod his head, actually looking a bit better than before.

"Gomenasai!" Hikari said sheepishly. She held up an empty container. "I ran out...I'll have to restock. For now though..." She reached out, and set my head on her lap. I think I turned the same shade of red as Sting.

I stayed like that the rest of the train ride. My head pillowed by Hikari's thighs, the movement of the train didn't bother me as much. Her scent was also calming, and I got closer than I had ever gotten to enjoying a train ride.

"Now entering Crocus." The automated female voice announced.

The train screeched to a stop, and the automatic doors opened. Sting immediately jumped up and ran outside. "This is SO much better!" he exclaimed, suddenly back in top shape. Lector flew out with him, admiring the city. The rest of us followed Sting out of the train car. "C'mon, let's go see which hotel is ours!" Lucy cheered.

"Yeah, you guys go on ahead, I have to check something..." Hikari mumbled dazedly. Without waiting for a reply, she ambled off.

"Eh?! Nee-chan! Where are you going?" Lucy called.

"Don't worry! I'll be back before midnight!" Hikari avoided the question. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "What...?"

"Let her be," Remus said, looking our from behind his book. "She does this a lot―she'll be back."

Lucy didn't look convinced, but she let it go.

"What does she mean, 'I'll be back before midnight'?" Rufus inquired.

"Here," Remus showed us the book he was reading. "Rules for the GMG:

_1. Each Guild's Master cannot compete._

_2. Anyone without the Guild's insignia cannot compete either, and must simply observe._

_3. Each event will remain secret until right before they begin, at which point the rules will be explained._

_*WARNING! All participants must return before 12:00."_

"Oh!" We chorused in understanding. "Hey, if it's until midnight, let's explore!" Sting grabbed Lucy and my arms, and dragged us away to the nearest shop, Fro and Lector trailing behind us. This is going to be a long day...

* * *

Hikari's POV

_Come._

'What?'

Involuntarily, my feet began to move. I slammed down on my Occlumency shields, and the voice faltered for a second before coming back stronger.

_Closer._

'What do you want with me?'

How could it still talk? Every Wolf Slayer has natural Occlumency, and I had practiced until I could keep even Dumbledore out! It shouldn't be in my head!

_Come closer._

'What are you talking about? Where are you?'

_Through here._

I looked down a dark alleyway.

'What? Here? Who are you?'

_Come._

Even though all of my rational thoughts screamed at me to stop, I walked forward. Kami, I think I permanently gained Harry's recklessness through that Polyjuice Potion I took when we had to transport him in the beginning of seventh year.

"Alright! Show yourself!"

A figure shifted in the dark, and I could only make out something red. The figure brought their hand up to their...face, maybe? And spoke.

"Psychic Eyes."

I felt something slam against my Occlumency shields like a battering ram. An involuntary gasp slipped out of my mouth, and I grasped my head in an attempt to stop the pulsating pain.

"W-who are y-y-you?" I gasped out, tears beginning to form in my eyes.

"In due time, lovely. Now, sleep."

The last thing I saw were twin pools of molten fire and silver tornadoes.

I blacked out.

* * *

*Back at Fairy Tail*

Gray's POV

"YES! I LOVE YOU, GROUND! I'M NEVER GETTING ON A TRAIN EVER AGAIN!"

I sighed. "You say that every time, but you always get on one again, baka!"

"What did you say, Stripper?!"

"You heard me, Flame Brain!"

"Ice Princess!"

"Squinty Eyes!"

"Droopy Eyes!"

"You bas―"

"Are you guys fighting again?" Erza boomed, looking in our direction. We immediately shut our mouths and put an arm around the other's shoulders.

"N-No, Erza! S-See? W-We're best f-friends!"

"Aye!"

Erza nodded, appeased, and turned away. We immediately let go of each other, grimacing in disgust.

Yuki and Kaito sweatdropped. "Are they always like that?" Yuki asked Wendy. "Y-Yeah..."

A few other Guild members exited the train car. They were there to send us off, and to explore Crocus. "Juvia is so sore!"

I grimaced. After Second Origin, it had been a pain to walk anywhere. All of our joints were stiff from thrashing around, and our muscles were sore. Worse, we couldn't even feel the rush of magic from our newly opened Second Origin.

Wendy walked over to Juvia, hand out. "Do you need me to heal you, Juvia-san?"

"Juvia would be so thankful if you did, Wendy!"

As Wendy healed Juvia (again), Yuki and Kaito's heads snapped up. They looked at each other for a second, and then nodded. "Hey guys? We'll be going to explore the city!"

Mira, who had been squealing over the shops next to a grumbling Laxus, called "Alright! But be back before dark!"

"We will!"

Erza walked over. "We're going too!"

"O-Okay..." Wendy said, a bit breathless from the use of magic.

"Let's go!"

* * *

"Master!"

Master, Bisca, Alzack, Asuka, Droy, Jet, Lisanna, and Levy stood in front of us.

"I did all of the entry paperwork!" Master laughed. "So you'd better show me the power of Fairy Tail!"

"What? Did he say Fairy Tail?"

"Oh, you mean those perennial last-place losers?"

"Why are they even here? They should just give up!"

My head snapped around to look at the passerby, who were all laughing at us. I resisted the urge to send an Ice-Make Cannon at them, and sent them a hard glare.

"Who's laughing at us?" Natsu growled.

Lisanna put a calming hand on his chest. "It's okay, Natsu."

"I'm sure you'll be in last place like always, losers!" The crowd laughed.

Natsu snarled.

"Anyone who wants to laugh, let 'em," Master said calmly.

"Really?!" Happy cheered, and then laughed at Jet and Droy.

"Hey, don't laugh at us!"

Master coughed. "Listen, I've got 30 million Jewel―I mean do your best to aim for the number one Guild in Fiore! The way things are now, we can't face the First Master, who saved our lives!"

We all nodded.

"The competition starts tomorrow, but unfortunately, I don't know what it is!"

"Eh? Fairy Tail's been in this for a number of years though, right?"

Bisca shook her head. "The competition change every year. The year they had a sharpshooting competition, I didn't compete."

"And the year they had a race, I didn't compete." Added Jet.

"I looked at past records, but the events had no consistency." Sighed Levy.

I sighed mentally. What kind of bad luck streak do we have?

Natsu slammed his fist and open palm together. "Well, it seems like we'll just have to play it by ear, then! I hope it's a battle, though!"

"Erza!" Her head snapped up. Master passed her a book that read 'GMG rulebook'. "Finish this by the end of the day!"

"What? This?"

Levy snatched the book, a pair of red glasses perched atop her nose. "Leave it to me! I have Galeforce reading glasses!"

After skimming the book, Levy spoke. "Alright, to put it in a nutshell, these are the rules:

_1. Each Guild's Master cannot compete._

_2. Anyone without the Guild's insignia cannot compete either, and must simply observe._

_3. Each event will remain secret until right before they begin, at which point the rules will be explained._

_*WARNING! All participants must return before 12:00."_

"Midnight, huh..." Erza mused.

"It must mean tonight," Charla deduced.

"So, it's like that story with the princess and the glass slipper, right?" I asked.

"If it's by midnight, we still have a lot of time! Let's go exploring!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye, sir!"

"Can I come?" Lisanna asked.

"Of course! Ikezou!"

Natsu, Lisanna, and Happy took off.

"Hey, you know which hotel we'll be staying at, right?" Erza called.

"Yeah, Honeybone!"

"Alright! But be back before midnight!"

"Aye!"

* * *

I stared at a fountain as the sun slowly began to set, tinging the sky with soft pinks, oranges, and reds. Everyone had gone off to explore except for Erza, who had gone off to the hotel in search for suspicious things.

"Gray-sama?"

My head snapped up at the familiar voice. "Juvia? What are you still doing here?"

She blushed. "The entire Guild is here to cheer you on!"

"Those bastards have way too much free time on their hands..." I grumbled.

Juvia seemed to blush even more, and then asked "D-Does Gray-sama want to h-have dinner with Juvia?"

I cocked my head in thought. "Now that you mention it, I am hungry..."

"In that case, I know of a good restaurant in town." Interjected someone. A white-haired, annoying someone.

"Lyon!"

He slipped his arm around Juvia's waist. "It's combined with an aquarium, too. A really fashionable restaurant."

"Eh? Wait...what is this?" Juvia asked, bewildered.

"Hey, don't just walk off with one of my members!" I yelled at Lyon's retreading back.

He stopped. "Gray, I hear that you are participating in this year's GMG. We, Lamia Scale, are going to win this year, though."

I laughed. "I heard you guys come in second every year."

Lyon butted his head against mine. "And you guys come in last every year. We may have come in second every year―but that was without me or Jura-san competing. You understand what I'm getting at, don't you?"

I was slightly bewildered. Lyon had toned down his competitiveness after what happened at Galuna Island, but...

My eyes fell on Juvia, who was watching us with distress. Ah.

I pushed back. "Are you forgetting? We have this monster called Erza on our side! We also have two new members, who could kick your ass to the moon and back!"

"I bet our new member could beat those two with his hands tied behind his back." What? They have a new member?

Lyon stepped back. "Let's make a wager. When Lamia Scale wins, Juvia will join our guild!"

"What the hell?!" Shouldn't he be asking Juvia about this first? "And if we win?"

"I will return Juvia to your guild!"

"She's ours to begin with!" I snapped.

Lyon seemed to not have heard me. "Remember this, Gray. This is a gentleman's agreement."

"Gimme a break! What kind of bet is that, anyways?"

"Are you afraid of losing?" Lyon mocked.

"What was that?!"

We glared at each other for a few seconds, before Juvia stepped between us, freaking out.

"Gray-sama! Please make up your mind! Do you want Juvia or Lyon-sama?"

I sweatdropped. "You weren't following the conversation at all, were you?"

* * *

Wendy's POV

"Charla, look at that!" I pointed up towards the castle, which was lit up in the night.

"Wow!"

I looked down at my visitor's pamphlet. "They say this is the Flower Light Palace, Mercurius!" I breathed in excitement. The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers and the crispness of a cold night. I sighed in content.

"I wonder what the King is like..." Charla mused.

"I wonder if he has a mustache..." I giggled.

"I bet he does!"

I heard something laugh, and turned my head towards the sound. I didn't see anything, so I turned back around.

It seems like I simply imagined it...

I suddenly felt faint, as if someone had sucked up all of my magic. I managed to call for Charla before I blacked out.

* * *

Sting's POV

Lucy, Rogue, Lector, Fro, and I spent most of the day walking around Crocus, merely ogling the sights and being dragged into shops by Lucy. I sighed. It was getting close to midnight...

Lucy suddenly stiffened, her nose in the air. "Natsu, Lisanna, and Happy, coming in," she said softly. I clenched a fist to stop myself from chasing after them, creating a blade of light, and then cleaving them in half. "Do you want us to leave?" I asked gently.

She sucked in a sharp breath. "No...let him come. Actually, lure him here."

We stared at her. "What?"

"I'd like to see him, under a disguise." She reached into one of her shopping bags and drew out a black cloak, embroidered with golden designs and a ruby clasp. She swung it around her shoulders, pulling the hood over her head and fastening the clasp. "I smell different, right?"

I nodded. She used to smell like vanilla and strawberries, but now she smelled like the forest and something calming and cold like the stars. I liked this scent better than her old one. This one described her perfectly.

"Good. Start a fight, that will catch his attention."

I hesitated. "Why do you want to see him?"

"I want to see if he had gotten over me; if I was really just a simple replacement, or if it was something else. I can't keep thinking about this; I'll go insane. A clean break."

Rogue nodded, and went to find some people to fight, Lector and Fro following him. I stayed behind with Lucy. "I didn't know you were still worrying over that."

Something bubbled in my chest, burning and twisting like some fire snake had gotten under my skin. Was this...jealousy?

She sighed, refusing to meet my eyes. I tentatively wrapped my arms around her. "You should say something next time, Lucy. We're your friends; we can help."

She nodded, relaxing into my hug, crystalline tears pouring down her face. I panicked. "Please don't cry!"

She shook her head. "No...I'm really happy, that's all."

We stayed like that, hugging in the middle of the path, until Rogue returned several minutes later.

"Found a group of people who are beating up challengers left and right," Rogue relayed. "There's even a crowd." I nodded. "Ikezou."

Lucy walked on ahead of us, and Rogue snickered as soon as she was out of the hearing range, which was far, even subconsciously. "How long were you two standing there like that?" He jibed. "Oh, urasai," I grumbled. "At least I'm making progress; how are you and Hikari?"

He bowed his head in embarrassment. "I...don't really know how to approach her without sounding awkward," he admitted.

I clapped him on the back. "Don't worry, you've got me to help!"

Rogue smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

I laughed. "See, that's more like it! Now, let's catch up to Lucy. Last one there is a rotten Dragon Egg!"

I took off, catching Rogue's mumbled statement of "He's so childish" before he was hot on my heels.

* * *

I spun around, executing a perfect roundhouse kick into my opponent's face, and crouched down to sweep the legs out from under another person just as Rogue landed a series of blows, his kick soaring over my head. We were in perfect sync, and the numbers were dropping fast without us even having to use any magic. Training had really paid off.

I punched the last person in the solar plexus, and watched him drop like a stone. I placed my boot on top of his head, looking out at the crowd challengingly. In reality, I was looking for a certain someone―and found the cotton candy head running towards us, dragging his white-haired partner with his Exceed trailing behind. I smirked. This was an excellent chance to verbally beat down that pathetic excuse for a Dragon Slayer. I looked over at Lucy, her face shadowed by her cloak hood. She had stood off to the side, simply watching the battle.

Admittedly, the battle had started over her, and the person who had suggested that now sported a broken nose, a concussion, a couple of bruised ribs, and a multitude of injuries where the sun doesn't shine. No one messed with Lucy in front of me.

I jerked my head in the direction of the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, and she inclined her head in acknowledgement. Good. She had sensed them too.

"Anybody else?" My eyes swept the crowd again.

"These guys are literally beneath us, oh yeah!" Lector crowed.

"Fro thinks so too!"

I watched as Dragneel crawled under the crowd, and glared when his head poked out.

"You!" I snarled.

"Natsu Dragneel." Rogue glared, his face hard.

"Gah!" His Exceed, Happy, exclaimed. "Cats!" I mentally facepalmed. How stupid could you get? He didn't even recognize his own species!

"What's up with this stupid looking cat?" Lector asked.

"Stupid!" Fro sang.

The Exceed began panicking. "They talk!"

Natsu cocked his head. "Who are you guys?"

One of the people in the crowd called out. "Hey, haven't you heard of Sabertooth's Twin Dragons, Sting and Rogue?"

"They're the cornerstone of Fiore's strongest Guild!" Said another.

Lucy chose that time to cough. I glared playfully at her.

Lisanna finally pushed through the crowd. "Then these two are..."

"...Sabertooth, huh?" Natsu finished.

I walked over to Natsu. "Rumor has it that you're going to be participating in the GMG. Is that true?" I wanted any excuse I could get to pound this guy into the dirt.

"You know about me?"

I smirked. "Acnologia..." Natsu's eyes sharpened in a glare. My smirk widened. I leaned in. "You're the Dragon Slayer who couldn't slay a Dragon, right?" I mocked. "Are you sure you should still be calling yourself a Dragon Slayer?" I drew myself up. "You know, I used to look up to you." I barely kept myself from spitting that out. I jerked a thumb at Rogue. "Incidentally, that guy was into Gajeel-san." He still is, I added mentally. According to Lucy, he had talked to her those three months, so I had nothing against him.

Rogue bowed his head slightly. "I was just interested in a fellow Dragon Slayer."

"Dragon Slayers? Both of you?!" Natsu demanded.

"I guess you should call us _true_ Dragon Slayers..." I drawled. "We could've beaten Acnologia."

"That's easy for you to say! You've never even laid eyes on Acnologia!" Lisanna frowned.

"That's right!" Happy yelled at Lector and Fro.

"You don't seem too bright, cat." Lector smirked.

"Lector is smart, right?" Smiled Fro.

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter whether or not we've seen Acnologia. The point here is the difference between our aptitudes as Dragon Slayers."

Lector walked forward. "I'll explain. Natsu-kun and the rest learned Dragon Slaying Magic from Dragons. They're the so-called 'First Generation'. Your Laxus-kun and Oracion Seis' Cobra-kun are known as the 'Second Generation'. They can use Dragon Slaying Magic through a Dragon Lacrima embedded in their body. As for Sting-kun and Rogue-kun, like you, they were raised by Dragons, but also have a Dragon Lacrima implanted inside their body...the hybrid 'Third Generation'!"

"'Third Generation'?!" Natsu gasped.

"In other words, they're the strongest Dragon Slayers!" Lector declared.

"Strongest Dragon Slayers, you say?" Natsu repeated.

"There's a world of difference between in ability between the 'First Generation' and the 'Third Generation'." Lector sighed. "It's not even worth talking about."

Apparently Natsu had only listened to the 'we are Dragon Slayers' part, because he asked "Did your Dragons disappear in the year 777 too?!"

"Well, in a manner of speaking..." I trailed off, discreetly looking at Lucy. She inclined her head in confusion, and I mouthed 'Please don't get mad; we'll explain,'". She nodded.

Rogue stepped forward. "I'll give it to you straight."The Dragons who taught us Dragon Slaying Magic were slain by our own hand, so we could become true Dragon Slayers..." Only Lucy, Lector, Fro, and I could hear the sadness behind the statement, but Natsu only heard the mockery.

"Y-You killed Dragons?!" Lisanna exclaimed in astonishment.

"Humans killed Dragons?!" Happy's mouth dropped open.

"You murdered YOUR OWN PARENTS?!" Natsu roared.

"So what if we did?" I taunted. "What would you know about that? Destroying a nakama? Oh right, you'd know a lot about that." Natsu's face went from enraged to bewildered. I heard Lucy suck in a sharp breath behind me.

"What?" He asked.

"Lucy Heartfilia." I drawled, enjoying his flinch. "I heard through the grapevine that you threw her out of your Team. Said she was a...replacement." I jerked my head towards Lisanna. "For her." I smirked at her flinch.

Natsu scrambled to his feet. "Do you know where she is?!" He demanded.

I snorted in disgust. "Well, even if I knew, why would I tell you? Besides, I'm sure she never wants to see your face again."

He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "How is she?!"

I brushed his hands off me like it was an annoying bug...which it was. "The last time I saw her, she was a wreck. There was another blonde girl with her, and she was trying to stop Lucy's crying―to no avail. I distinctly remember her words―'I can't believe him. I actually thought he was my nakama. I actually thought any of them were my nakama! Should've guessed I was just a replacement...I never want to see them again.' Why would you want to know?"

He didn't say anything, he just slumped down into the floor. Lisanna had already started crying. When he looked back up at me, I got a good look at his eyes.

The only way to describe them was broken. As it someone had switched the usual obsidian eyes with flimsy black-stained glass, and I was the hammer that smashed them to pieces. Still, I couldn't really find it in me to care much.

Do you feel this, Natsu-san? Do you feel this pain? This is what you caused Lucy. You reap what you sow.

As he locked eyes with me, I saw those broken shards put themselves back together again and fog over. He stared at me blankly before the fog lifted, and his eyes were back to those defiant obsidian chips.

So he only felt it for a second, huh? I guess complete remorse was too much to ask.

Slowly, slowly, he picked himself back off the floor, and walked away without a word. Lisanna and Happy followed him, Lisanna still crying and Happy's ears and tail drooping.

"Well, if we get the chance to fight each other during the GMG..." I called after him. "...I'll show you the power that can slay a real Dragon!"

"Ikezou. I'm not interested in the older generation." Rogue muttered.

I nodded, gestured to Lucy, called for Lector and Fro, and we walked away from the crowd to our hotel.

* * *

When we walked into our room, we found Hikari and Sirius talking animatedly to Rufus about broomstick design. Remus was reading a pamphlet about Crocus.

"―the broom is made of ebony, and the birch twigs are carefully hand selected―" she broke off and smiled at us. "Great! Just in time, too!" She gestured at the clock mounted on the wall, which read 11:50. "So, how was your trip around Crocus? Ours was great! We even walked in the Royal Garden surrounding Mercurius!"

Remus nodded. "It was really beautiful. There were even flora I had never seen before!"

"―the iron is made by goblins! GOBLINS! They don't come cheap either, and their metal smithing skills are so good they can absorb poisons and magic! They are also practically indestructible―"

I sighed, and recounted our tale. By the end of it, even Sirius and Remus were listening intently, and Hikari looked ready to murder someone.

"That―That bastard! How―" she stopped talking and breathed in and out, deeply.

Rufus simply glared at the wall. "No use ranting about it, it's already done. I would suggest leaving that anger for the GMG, where you can take turns beating him. I would, admittedly, like to have a turn."

Sirius nodded emphatically, practically vibrating with suppressed rage. "You'd better give them a good beating," he stared seriously. "Otherwise, I will be forced to transfigure both you and them into flowers."

Rogue nodded, the corners of his mouth upturned in a wicked smile. "Of course. What kind of friends would we be then?"

Remus closed his pamphlet with a snap, and you could see the rage in his eyes. "Come on, Sirius, we have to go. It's almost midnight."

Standing up, both bid us farewell before leaving. I slumped against the wall.

"So, I owe you an explanation..." I said dejectedly. Lucy nodded and gestured for me to go on.

"Well...in a way, we both did kill our Dragons. My Dragon, Weisslogia, willingly let me kill him in order for me to reach my full strength. I protested, and adamantly refused, but I killed him anyways..." My breath hitched in my throat. Lucy slid over to me and put her arms around me. I shifted closer, wanting her comforting warmth and her calming scent.

She inclined her head towards Rogue, who hesitantly began his story. "Like Sting, my killing my Dragon was a half-truth. My Dragon, Skiadrum, was slowly dying from a deadly disease. I simply...helped him pass on without pain."

Hikari put her hand softly over Rogue's, and leaned into him. We stayed like that until the clock struck twelve.

* * *

*Back with Fairy Tail*

Natsu's POV

Lisanna, Happy, and I slowly walked into the hotel room, where Gray was being chewed out by Erza, and Kaito was staring blankly at a wall.

Erza turned on us. "And where have you been...?" She trailed off after she saw our faces. Gray and Kai walked over to listen.

"Met up with Sabertooth...they saw Lucy." I mumbled. The meeting flashed through my head, and I couldn't even find it in myself to get angry at Sting or Rogue. Lucy...

And the scariest thing was, for a second, I really didn't care if Lucy didn't want to see us or not. I just...blanked out.

Erza's eyes widened. "They saw Lucy?! How is she?"

"Doesn't want to ever see us again."

Before Erza could say anything else, the door flew open to a panting Charla and an unconscious Wendy.

"What happened to her?!" Gray demanded.

"Ambushed...lost all her magic," puffed Charla.

"Bring her over here." Kai said, and he slipped off his right bracelet. All of a sudden, he was holding an electric guitar.

"Wha...?"

I was completely bewildered. Maybe this was the magic they were talking about...?

He strummed out a simple tune, and hummed "Healing Sonata."

The music washed over us like a warm blanket, and we all relaxed. I took the chance to lift my spirits up; reassure myself that Sting was merely taunting me; that Lucy would be back.

But then how did he know about Hikari?

Urasai, self. Let me be happy.

After a while, Wendy came to.

"W-What happened?"

"You were apparently ambushed. Dunno. But you're fine now." Kaito's guitar shrunk back into a spiked bracelet, and he slipped it back on his wrist.

Wendy bowed. "Arigato Kaito-san!"

He grunted. "No problem." Catching all of our weird looks, he sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you..."

We all sat in silence, turning over the new information in our heads. Kaito and Yuki were Wolf Slayers.

So, they were like me? Slayers? I couldn't wait to fight them!

Before we could say anything, the clock struck twelve.

* * *

Hikari's POV

"Everyone in the Guilds who have gathered for the GMG...ohayo gozaimasu!"

"It's coming from outside!" I exclaimed, springing up and dragging Rogue onto the balcony, the others hot on our heels.

"It's a hologram." Rufus noted, gesturing to the 3-D image of the GMG's mascot.

"Beginning now, we're going to take the 113 participating teams―"

"113?! Sting yelped. "That's more than all of Fiore's Guilds!"

"―and have an elimination round to pare them down to eight!"

"Only eight this year?" Rogue mused. "Last year it was 16..."

"An elimination round? Was there one last year?" Lucy asked.

Sting shook his head. "No, there wasn't. I guess this is why they wanted us to be back at our designated hotel at midnight."

"Every year, the number of participating Guilds increases, and it was pointed out to me that the events were getting stale. This year, there I'll only be eight teams participating in the official games. The elimination rules are simple!"

The hotel suddenly began to shake, and it rose off the ground. Sting fell to the floor, green, and Rogue tightened his grip around my hand. Frantically, I dug in my pocket for the new container of Troia pills I had purchased today, and handed them I the Dragon Slayers, who immediately gobbled them up. Feeling much better, they stared intently at a magically forming wooden walkway from our balcony to...nowhere yet.

"All of you are going to race each other! The goal is the Game's arena, Domus Flau. The first eight teams to get there will move on. You are few to use your magic. There are no restrictions. But remember, only the first eight teams to get to the goal will survive this round! However, all five members must arrive together or it doesn't count! And one more thing! We take no responsibility for any lives lost in the Labyrinth."

"Labyrinth?!" I exclaimed.

"There!" Lucy gasped.

Sure enough, an enormous magically generated Labyrinth floated in mid-air, connected to the flimsy wooden walkways.

"The Grand Magic Games elimination round! Sky Labyrinth...begin!"

* * *

**AN: Who do you think the person who used Psychic Eyes on Hikari was? I'll give you guys a hint-reread the last few chapters (coughcough10coughcough…wha? I didn't say nuthin!) and write in the reviews who you think he/she/they are! Also, I think I rushed this chapter a bit…did you like the Sting/Natsu confrontation? I took most of the dialogue from the episode itself…oh, and one more thing! Just in case you don't understand why everyone was mad at Natsu (the Sabers), it's because they think he has a lot of nerve, kicking out Lucy with no remorse, and then demanding to know where she was and how she'd been.**

**Ja ne,**

**Kit Kat**


	14. Sky Labyrinth

Ch 13: Sky Labyrinth

**DISCLAIMER: *TAKES OFF SUNGLASSES AND ACTIVATES GEASS OF ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE* I ORDER YOU TO HAND OVER ALL OWNERSHIP RIGHTS TO FAIRY TAIL!**

**HIRO MASHIMA POINTS AT LEFT EYE**

**NOOO! A GEASS CANCELLER! WELL, AT LEAST I TRIED.**

**AN: *pants* NOOO! Suzaku! Give me back my muse! *runs faster* Gino! Not you too! Rolo! Help me! *Rolo uses his Geass* JEREMIAH! Stop using your Geass Canceller! *Gino throws muse to Lelouch* YES! Give it to the person who can't outrun Milly! *tackles Lelouch and hugs muse to chest* You guys have done enough damage. Where did you come from anyways?**

…**if you couldn't tell already, Code Geass has stolen my Fairy Tail/Harry Potter muse and I just got it back. Though, Sayoko is staring at her a bit too much…even so, I HIGHLY recommend Code Geass for those who like a good action/drama anime, with LOTS of tragedy! Seriously, don't watch Code Geass unless you're ready to stay curled up in a ball on your bed, bawling and questioning your life purpose for hours on end. ^-^;**

**But I'm back, people! And I thank everyone who has stuck with me through my horribly inconsistent updating schedule! NOW, LET THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES BEGIN! …or, at least the elimination round!**

_Recap:_

_"The Grand Magic Games elimination round! Sky Labyrinth...begin!"_

* * *

Lucy's POV

Sting immediately jumped for the wooden walkway, but Hikari pulled him back.

"Wait! Do you _see_ the size of this Labyrinth?! We could be stuck inside for days!"

Rufus frowned. "So, what do you propose?"

Hikari grabbed her trunk charm, and threw it on the ground. She opened up the second compartment, and extracted her Firebolt and various potions. She handed the Firebolt to Rufus. "Here, you ride this, and Lucy and I will turn into wolves and carry Stung and Rogue. That way, we're all faster!"

Everyone nodded. Rogue pointed to the potions. "What are those for?"

"Those are for throwing at people we run across." Hikari grinned. "Don't worry, they aren't particularly lethal; they are just for slowing down other teams."

Sting hopped up and down, balancing on one foot. "Ikezou! We're being left behind!"

"Right!"

"Form Three!" Both of us yelled, and I gestured for Sting to get on. Hikari just clamped her jaws around Rogue's cloak, and swung him onto her back. I giggled.

Sting, on the other hand, tentatively ran his hands through my fur and pulled himself up, settling comfortably.

Kami was I glad that I was in Form Three, otherwise I was sure my face would be redder than Erza's hair!

Erza...I would see everyone. I just knew it. There would be no way in Heaven or Hell that Natsu or any other Tenrou member would miss out on the chance to become the number one Guild in Fiore. I sighed mentally and steeled myself.

"Ikezou! Team Sabertooth!" I cheered.

"Yeah!"

We jumped over the balcony rail, and sped off towards the Labyrinth. I could see all the other Guilds frantically scrambling up the long wooden walkway. I laughed.

"Look at all the others! Man, even though we had a late start, we're beating them by miles!" Sting whooped.

"We are!" I agreed, ramping up the speed. As I was looking around, my sensitive ears picked up a faint "Ikezou! Team Fairy Tail!" From my right.

Jerking my head towards the sound, my eyes alighted towards the group of five, whooping and yelling. I turned away.

I'll show you, Fairy Tail. The real Lucy Heartfilia is back, and she isn't taking any insults standing down! Besides, everyone knew that Sabers eat Fairies. And I was getting pretty hungry. I had pushed down the indignation and the pain of getting betrayed like that by my 'real' family so nee-chan and everyone else wouldn't worry so much, but now that we were headed into a competition, one that Fairy Tail would be participating in, I wouldn't hold back.

Overhead, Mato, the GMG's mascot, had started talking again. "Let's begin with an explanation of the elimination round's rules. This time around, there are 113 teams strong participating in the Grand Magic Games. The purpose of this elimination round is to cut down that number all at once to eight teams who will compete in the Games proper. The rule are simple. All of the teams must go from their inn to the Sky Labyrinth and make it from there to the Domus Flau, the Games' arena. The eight teams that arrive first survive the elimination round and will compete in the Games."

"Easy!" Sting shouted.

Rogue shushed him. "Be quiet, he's still talking. There may be conditions that will make this easier or harder for us."

Mato continued. "Furthermore, contestants are free to use magic to get through the maze, and there are no restrictions."

Hikari grinned around her wand, which she had just summoned. "Great! We'll be unstoppable!"

"What will you be doing?" Rufus enquired.

Hikari grinned darkly, canines flashing in the dark. "Oh, you know, just the standard procedure of incapacitating and erasing memories," she said. "What?" Hikari put on an innocent face. Well, as innocent as you could get while being a wolf.

No one answered her. We had all learned not to contradict or question Hikari when she got like this.

"However..." Now, Mato's voice had become sinister. "...even if lives are lost in the Labyrinth,"

"What?" I yelped. "People could die?! This is just the elimination round!"

"The Grand Magic Games executive committee assumes no responsibility!" Mato finished with a grin that sent shivers down my spine.

By this time, we had made it onto the Labyrinth.

Hikari looked around. "This maze is three-dimensional...this will be a pain."

"Even so, we'll come out on top! We gotta get through here and beat those Fairy Tail bastards to a pulp!" Sting grinned, slamming his fist into his open palm.

"Basically, we should head east." Rogue interjected. "The arena is in that direction."

I grinned. "In that case, count on me!" Summoning a Silver Key and clutching it in my mouth, I called out "Open! Gate of the Compass, Pyxis!" A silver Magic Circle opened up, and Pyxis appeared in a poof of smoke. He was an adorable red bird, with small eyes, a gigantic beak, and a compass on top of his head.

Pyxis used to be extremely notorious for getting directions wrong, but after the training I gave each of my Spirits up in the mountains, Pyxis was extremely reliable.

"Onegai, Pyxis! Tell us which way is east!"

Pyxis cawed, and the compass atop his head spun until it stopped in the direction of east.

"Alright! East is that way! Arigato Pyxis, you can go now." Pyxis cawed one more time, and left in a poof of smoke.

All of us headed towards the direction Pyxis pointed, and it wasn't until we were heading up the starts that I realized just how insanely complicated this maze was.

"We can't travel this way forever, you know..." Rogue trailed off as he looked upwards.

"Is the roof folded back over?!" Sting exclaimed.

Hikari bounded next to Rufus. "Rufus, can you memorize the route we're taking, along with the immediate surroundings so we know when we have gotten lost?"

Rufus nodded. "Good idea, Hikari. Memorized."

Hikari ran back next to me, and looked up at Rogue. "Are you doing okay? The Troia pills should be wearing off by now..."

Rogue shook his head. "For some reason, I'm not feeling sick at all."

"Same here," Sting said, frowning.

All of a sudden, Mato's face appeared in front of us. "Wah!" I yelped, stumbling a few steps back, while Hikari and a Rufus just jerked in surprise.

"I'll explain! For the elimination round, this entire Sky Labyrinth has been treated with magic so even those with motion sickness or fear of heights can compete fairly!" He disappeared immediately afterwards.

"Huh..." Hikari mused. "It's like one big Troia."

I giggled. "Maybe that means that Sting, Rogue, and Natsu aren't the only ones with motion sickness!"

Playing along, Hikari responded with a "Well then, that's pathetic."

"Hey!" Sting protested. "Don't lump me in with Dragneel!"

I laughed. "Gomen! Anyways, let's keep going east!"

"Right!"

We kept going in the general direction of east, sometimes having to loop around multiple times bedew we had gotten our bearings. The magic may have erased motion sickness and fear of heights, but it hadn't gotten rid of vertigo.

We had stumbled upon doors that go nowhere, endless pits, and tunnels that spun around and around and spit you out in the middle of nowhere, disappearing behind us.

"Watch out!" Hikari yelled, just managing to grab onto Sting, who had jumped off of me to examine a door that we couldn't fit in together. It was another door that led to thin air, and Sting had almost fallen.

"W-When Mato had said that they weren't taking responsibility even if people die..."

Rogue nodded grimly. "If we had fallen, we would've ended up on a street in Crocus, head first."

I shivered. "Let's walk a bit more cautiously this time..."

"It's weird, isn't it? We haven't even run into another Guild yet!" Sting exclaimed.

Hikari frowned. "It is weird. Even if this place is gigantic, there are 113 groups of 5 in this Labyrinth!"

"Shhh!" I shushed everyone, ears perked. "I hear someone..."

"You're the one who said that it was this way!"

"What, so it was my fault?!"

"Not that I care, but we've already been here once."

"See! I knew it!"

"Anyways, we gotta keep going or we'll run out of time!"

They came into our line of sight. "Holy shit! That mark..."

"It's Sabertooth!"

Rufus explained quietly. "They were our supposed 'rival Guild,' Titan Nose. It's seems like they still hold a grudge."

"I didn't expect to see your ugly mugs here!" One of the called, obviously faking bravado.

"I didn't expect to run into you either," Sting shot back.

"Heh! Well this year, Titan Nose will beat Sabertooth, and—"

SMASH!

A purple plume of smoke rose from where the potion crashed, and I heard a lot of cursing coming from inside the smoke. When it cleared, all five people had a canary face and useless feathery wings. They ran around, screeching at each other.

"Obliviate!"

All five became glassy-eyed, and they stumble around for a second before flopping onto the ground. Hikari lowered her wand.

"What was that?" Sting exclaimed.

"Memorized."

"The potion is called a Canary Bomb, something some prankster friends made back in Magical Britain. That was Obliviate, a spell to erase memories." Seeing our worried faces, she hastened to assure us. "But don't worry. I only erased their memories of the last 10 minutes. They should be fine in a few minutes. Same for the effects of the potion, it should wear off soon. Meanwhile..." She bounded up towards Titan Nose. "Why don't we take these maps of theirs?"

"Sugoī!" I called, running up to meet them. "Rufus!"

"Yeah. Memorized. According to these maps, we should head that way." He pointed towards a spiral staircase.

We all nodded.

"We should go out of out way to gather some maps, too. It wouldn't be that hard to beat some other Guilds and take their maps!" Hikari suggested.

"Good idea!" I cheered.

We kept moving, occasionally stopping to take maps from the other Guilds and Obliviating them. We were sure we had gotten close to the end when an alarm sounded, and the ground started shaking.

"W-What's happening!" I yelled, shifting to keep my balance. Sting clutched my fur harder, pressing down to keep himself from falling.

"T-The entire Labyrinth is rotating!" Hikari screamed back, pressing her flank against the side of a door. Rogue was clinging onto Hikari, already slightly slipping. Rufus, as he was on a broomstick, simply floated in mid-air.

"NANI?!"

I watched, claws digging into the concrete of the platform under me, as various Guild members began to fall. I spotted a pink head among them, and smiled slightly to myself.

"ROGUE!"

Hikari screamed as he slipped off her back, plummeting down. There was no platform anywhere near him, and I was afraid for a second that Rogue would seriously die. Hikari reached for his cloak that was fluttering madly with the sudden updrift, and clamped her jaws around.

Thin air.

Rufus made to dive down, but Hikari beat him to it. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She screamed.

For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happened.

Then, slowly, Rogue stopped falling and began to float upwards. Hikari grabbed him the first chance she got, and placed him back on her back.

"Are you okay?!" Hikari demanded.

Rogue smiled slightly, even though he was paler than normal. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"L-Let's keep going, minna," I suggested, even as the shaking stopped.

"It's stopped." Rufus called out.

"Yeah. But this is seriously screwed up! What kind of contraption is this?" Sting asked thin air.

"It was designed to pare 113 teams down to eight...and lots of teams were just shaken off." Hikari answered.

I tentatively peeked over the edge, and saw that the people who had fallen were caught by various Magic Circles. I sighed in relief. At least no one had died.

"Ah!" I looked down. A map had just landed in front of my feet. "Hey Rufus! This map is extremely detailed! Let's memorize it and go!"

"Yeah!" Hikari agreed. "We have lots of ground to make up for!"

"That way!" Rufus called, pointing off into the distance.

I squinted, and just barely made out the outline of the Domus Flau. "Minna! He's right! I can see the arena!"

"Alright! Ikezou!"

We ran, dodging falling Guild members and random brawls, heading towards the exit.

"Move!"

"Outta our way!"

"Excuse me!" I apologized to a guy that I had just rammed into. He scramble backwards and screamed. "A-A talking wolf!"

Everyone cleared out really fast afterwards.

"The-The hell?!"

We had just entered another door, and landed on a rocky pathway in the middle of the ocean.

"I don't know what this is, but I can see the end!" Hikari exclaimed.

Sure enough, at the end of the path lay a small, insignificant wooden door with the neon flashing word "GOAL" written on top. In front if the door stood Mato. Running fast, we reached the door, where Mato greeted us.

"Sting Eucliffe! Rogue Cheney! Rufus Lore! Hikari Heartfilia! Lucy Heartfilia! Congratulations! You passed the elimination round!"

"Yes! Are we first?" Sting demanded.

"As a matter of fact, you are! Congratulations to Sabertooth! You may pass through the door and wait for tomorrow!"

"Yosh!" We all cheered. Throwing open the door, we came across a long hallway.

"You guys are S-1!" Mato called after us.

"S-1..." I said to myself, walking down the hall until I reached a door that had S-1 on a plaque. "Seems like this is us!"

Opening the door, we found ourselves back in our inn.

"Looks like we're back, huh?" Hikari mused.

"Sugoī!" Sting shouted.

"Anyways, since we're first, we can expect to be waiting for a while. Let's just relax. Tomorrow's going to be a long day." Rufus said.

"Right."

The next hour was spent on devising battle strategies, as well as bouncing off ideas on each other about what would be in the GMG. Finally, there was a 'ding-ding-ding' noise that signified the end of the elimination round. We all ran to the balcony.

A hologram of Mato appeared in front of the labyrinth. "So, our eight teams are all present! Sky Labyrinth, the elimination round of the Grand Magic Games, is over! Which Guilds are going to participate in the real Games? You'll find out at the opening ceremony!"

* * *

**AN: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand…CUT! We're finally getting into the Grand Magic Games! A lot is going to change, and some new characters will be introduced! I'm slightly surprised no one has guessed who the two traitors are…I guess I'll just have to drop some more hints! **

**I know that they never showed anything behind the wooden door, but I assumed it would take them back to their inn, since when Natsu went to Sabertooth to beat them up for what they did to Yukino, he was running along the streets of Crocus. **

**Next time, it's the Grand Magic Games Day 1! Hopefully this time I'll be able to update faster, and with a longer chapter! **

**Ja ne, **

**Kit Kat**


End file.
